Waiting for you
by Emerald-rei
Summary: Kantaro will go as far as to sacrifice his life for both of his slaves, especially Haruka. For the black tengu's sake, he sacrifices his own spiritual power in a sacred ritual. His life is on the edge now. Will he escape death?
1. Painful beginning

**Waiting for you**

Disclaimer: I do not own Tactics, as well as any of its characters such as the cute Kantaro, charming Haruka, funny Sugino, adorable Moo and others. The title taken from a Chinese song.

Rating: PG (old rating) or K+ (new rating) for mild violence, fighting and blood (rating will go up in the future)

Genres: Slightly AU, action/adventure, tragedy (minor changes depend on each chapter)

Pairing: None (currently none, but there will be Sugino and Moo in future chapters)

Warnings or notes: Please keep in mind that this fiction is slightly AU (throughout the entire story), spoilers for manga and anime, grammar and other errors, around 1200 words this chapter.

Also please take note that when any of its character speaks, I am using their original styles of speaking in the anime (for example in the anime, Yoko calls Kantaro as Kan-chan.) I understand that I am writing in English and I should use fully English as some of you may think. However, in order to make this fic has the same taste and feeling as the original manga/anime, I would like to use some Japanese words (only in speeches). Please do understand, and forgive me if I make a mistake somewhere or if you think my writing is not excellent.

Japanese terms (Credits given to DarkKatana for pointing out my mistakes! Thanks!):

_Oni_ – demon/ogre

_Onikui _– demon/ogre eater (Haruka's previous name/nickname)

_Tengu_ – goblin (In other anime/manga, tengu is known as keeper or some, as God's servant)

_-chan _– this word is added at the back of someone's name to show the closeness between friends, or you use it when calling a kid. Mostly used for girls' names

_Manga_ – Japanese comic

_Anime_ – Japanese animation

I know my style of writing is repetitive…:sweatdrops: But do review please. Thanks!

**: ooo :**

Chapter 1-Painful beginning

"Please go back to where you belong!" A youth said in a clear voice while raising a piece of paper with written spell. Then he threw it at a huge ugly monster, making it moaned painfully for a while before it fell down in front of him. His face showed a moment of sadness and guilt before he continued to chant the famous spell against the monster. A bright light appeared, followed by the dark visible aura coming from the monster. After that, the monster vanished slowly in front of the crimson eyed youth.

"Finally…," the youth mumbled. He lowered his head a little, his crimson eyes was looking at the ground as if it was the most interesting place to look at. "Hmm…I guess I better get back before it is too late," he said, obviously to no one but himself while raising his head again. He began to walk in a fast pace as the sky was beginning to turn into darker shade. After a few steps, he felt a sudden pain on his chest as he fell on his knees, both hands clutching tightly on his clothes in pain. "!"

'This…Not now!' He thought while trying to look around nervously. 'This is the sensation of oni!' he thought. Sweats quickly formed on his body. As he was trying to locate the ghost, it appeared in front of him.

"Human…Those who come across this forest must die!" the ghost, apparently it was a male ghost, said, sending a direct physical attack at the panting youth.

'Shit! He is too strong…Plus Haruka is not here…Speaking of Haruka…,' the crimson eyed youth evaded the attack and was ready to chant a spell before the vicious ghost decided to send another attack at him. This time he only gave out his dark aura, making the youth fell on his knees in pain while clutching on his clothes around his chest. 'I should run…,' after a while, he still could not manage to cast a successful spell because the ghost knew his only weakness. He had to retreat by taking a few steps backwards each time the ghost attacked him.

However, it seemed like he did not have a path to continue running. Because he did not realize that a few steps behind of him was a cliff. He did not know about that at all, not before he slipped and fell from the cliff. "Ah!" the last thing he saw was the vivid image of the ghost and then everything went black.

On the other hand, a certain demon fox in a human disguise was fussing around in a small but decent house. "Where is Haruka-chan! Where is Kan-chan! After their fight, what happened!" Instead of asking no one, she began to rumble alone. After a certain moment, she stopped and decided to go out to search for both of the mentioned men. Just when her left foot took the first step, she saw a shadow on the ground. That could only mean one thing; someone was flying in the sky. She looked up in a jerk and screamed happily (because she finally saw one of them). "Haruka-chan!"

The handsome tengu with black wings looked down for a moment. Then he landed right in front of her. "Yoko…," as usual, his face showed nothing but the nonchalant look he wore always.

"Where is Kan-chan?" the female demon fox asked in concern. "I am so worried about you two!" The strongest tengu made no reply. He just looked at the other way by turning his back at Yoko. "Haruka-chan, what happened after you flew away? Did he not apologize to you? Did he go to that place by his own!" the very worried demon fox asked, she tucked Haruka's sleeve with both her small hands.

The first and second questions made Haruka hissed about a certain youth in annoyed. However, the third question confused him a little. "What do you mean by 'go to that place by his own'?" he asked, ignoring Yoko's previous questions.

"He said he is going to exorcize a monster in the forest! Didn't he tell you that?" Yoko replied in a hush and she showed more fear than before. She was afraid and concerned about their master's safety. The atmosphere became more tensing.

The black winged tengu was in silence. Seriously their master did not tell him that, not even a glimpse of the mission. What was in Kantaro's mind? Sometimes both of them could not catch his mind. It was true that Kantaro was considered as a cunning man at times by both of his slaves. But he was not planning to do something dangerous by his own, was he? He was not that stupid and reckless, was he? Anyway, this really made the demon fox very worried.

"Hmph! He is the best exorcist here," the tengu finally replied sarcastically in his monotone voice. "Why should I care about his safety? Surely he could handle it by himself," Haruka added as his wings began to appear. "I don't want to stay here any longer and make myself like a puppet to be played by that man. No matter what are the consequences, I will leave," the tengu said, sounded angry and emotional in a sudden. "And I would not forgive him for breaking my bowl." With his original tengu clothes in his hands, he flew away in a swift movement.

"Wait, Haruka-chan!" Yoko yelled in dismay. 'He came back…just to take his belongings…?' Now that with Haruka's leaving and Kantaro's whereabouts unconfirmed, Yoko could do nothing but to break into tears.

After a few hours of staying unconscious, the crimson eyed youth finally opened his eyes slowly. His head was spinning as he tried to sit up. He tried to do so by putting strength into his right hand to push himself up, but he failed miserably. "Ouch!" he yelped in pain and his left hand quickly went to clutch at his right arm. Just then he took a good look at his own self. He found out, not only that he had a broken arm, his whole body was wounded. His head was bleeding, his right arm was broken, and he guessed he had a few broken ribs too. Only when he found out that, he could finally felt the result of the fall. He was in great pain.

"Gya…," his senses now were slowly coming back to make things worse. Despite the pain he was going through, he still attempted to sit by pushing his strength onto his left hand. After a while, he merely made it and was leaning on a nearby tree. "I somehow manage to stay alive after the fall…," he mumbled. It was a miracle that he would survive after the fall. Maybe the trees cushioned his fall, but it also wounded him by cutting his skin. Right after he said that, he felt another new pain as he coughed violently. Something sticky and dark was coming out from his mouth. He wiped it with the back of his left hand. It was…blood. Apparently he was suffering from internal wound too.

'Oh great…' Now that he was bleeding all over, he was also vomiting blood. Maybe he could not survive if he continued to stay like this. But he could not move either. His right leg was slightly twisted in an odd way. He presumed that he landed on his right side. Therefore his right body was wounded worse than his left side. Not forget to mention, his head was killing him. His vision was blurry and the scene kept spinning and spinning, until he decided to close his eyes.

At last his body was giving up. "…Ha…ru…ka…," was the last thing he said before the darkness welcomed him once more.

: **To be continued :**

_Edited: Hah…finally I have the time to edit my story! DarkKatana pointed out my mistakes for the Japanese terms and I edited it. Thanks! Also, I made a minor edit on the scene changes in this chapter (as well as some other mistakes) since a reader advised me to change my style. Anyway, critiques are still welcome!_


	2. It started with a fight

**Waiting for you**

Disclaimer: Sadly I announce…Tactics is not mine…:sobs:

Rating: PG or K+ (rating will go up in the future)

Genres: Slightly AU, action/adventure, tragedy

Pairing: Just a minor part of Sugino and Moo lol

Warnings or notes: Slightly AU, spoilers for manga and anime, OOC-ness, grammar and other errors, around 1500 words.

Japanese terms:

Will only be posted up when a new word appears. Kindly refer to the chapter 1 for reference on this chapter. Thanks.

I know the story is boring, but please review to tell me the mistakes I made here, as well as some ideas. I would not say that 'I won't continue unless I have (insert number) reviews', but I do hope to hear more responses from the readers. Thank you for reading. :)

**: ooo :**

Chapter 2-It started with a fight

Meanwhile, the black-winged tengu, who had just left his home, was thinking in silence at somewhere. He needed the silence badly after the incident. "Why must I be his slave?" Haruka murmured to himself. His mind flew back to their fight earlier soon after.

_: Flashback :_

Kantaro asked the black tengu to accompany him to somewhere. Yet, because there was not an exorcising job, the tengu refused to obey the order. Needless to say, it upset and even pissed his master off. After begging and begging for some time, Haruka still refused. Thus, it triggered Kantaro to have a yet another childish fight with the tengu. "You have to obey me and my orders, Haruka!"

Seeing that Kantaro was the one to start the fight, Haruka decided to counter attack. "I'm unlike any other slaves! I refuse to follow you everywhere!"

Kantaro did not want to give up that easily on the other hand. "It's my hometown! I just want Haruka to visit it with me! There is nothing wrong with it!"

"Who wants to visit the boring, and good-for-nothing hometown of yours?"

Haruka should not say that. Even though Kantaro might not seem like it, but he did not like people to criticize his hometown. Even though it brought back too much bitter memories. "So you want to disobey my orders, you useless tengu?" Therefore, he threw back the insult at Haruka, causing the other to piss off too.

"I would be glad to get rid of you, human." The fight became serious as the black winged-tengu raised his wings and was in the fighting stance.

Surprisingly, Kantaro did not intend to start a real fight. Instead, he smirked evilly. "You must have forgotten this," he said while taking out a dirty and old bowl from his long sleeve. By doing this, Haruka's expression changed completely to a more dangerous one.

"You would better NOT to do anything to MY bowl," he growled angrily. The bowl was something he treasured the most and if anything happened to it, he would not hesitate to hurt anyone who caused it. And that might include his master.

Nevertheless, Kantaro knew he was on the upper hand. Thus, he continued to threaten his slave. "So what will you do if I DO this?" he asked while his right hand, which was holding the bowl, moved to throw it at somewhere else. Before the threatened Haruka could 'save' his precious bowl, it was broken into pieces when it hit the ground. Upon seeing this, the tengu was terribly furious.

"KANTARO!" he screamed on top of his lungs, sending chills to Yoko, who was actually at the outside of the house doing house chores. She did not know their fight in the first place, not until she heard Haruka's screams. "I DESPISE YOU!" he yelled again. He was going to really attack his master if there was no Yoko to stop him.

"What did you do, Kan-chan!" she asked, also feeling annoyed and somewhat confused. She could see from her view that Kantaro was looking nonchalant. It could only mean something was amiss with him as well. However, before their master could reply, Haruka decided to fly off. His wings flapped and he went off without saying anything else.

_: End of flash back :_

"I would not forgive you," he repeated to himself. His clenched his fists tightly. "If anything happens to you, you deserve it." Clearly, there was a great anger for his master.

Time passed away in a fast pace. It was a week after the accident of Kantaro's fall. In those days, a certain demon fox was almost worried to death. She was searching for both her master and companion everywhere. And yet, all her attempts were in vain. Now that Kantaro and Haruka were both not at home, she did not know what to do. Luckily the white winged-tengu would come to Kantaro's house for a visit and that day was one of those days.

"What! That Kantaro broke Onikui's bowl!" a long black haired man asked in surprised. In his arms was a very adorable little green demon, namely Moo.

"Yes…," was the weak reply from the demon fox. Her eyes were wet with tears.

"I, Sugino, will not forgive that guy! How dare of him to break a tengu's bowl!" Sugino stood up angrily, his arms would never let go of the cute little demon.

Yoko immediately stood up as well. "I'm sure Kantaro won't do that…Please, don't fight against each other. We must find both of them quickly," she pleaded with her soft voice. Seeing this, even the white winged- tengu softened his voice and decided to be wise.

"Okay…Let's leave it to Moo-chan! Moo-chan will be able to find either of them very soon," he smiled when speaking of his beloved demon, which it was labeled as his 'wife'. Moo understood what was happening and 'moo-ed' as agreement to search for both of the wanted men. Thus, the journey to hunt for Kantaro, as well as Haruka began.

On the other hand, the crimson eyed youth began to open his eyes and saw that this time; he was in an unfamiliar place. His surroundings were new to him. He tried to recall what had happened to him. 'I see…I fell from the cliff…' Just when he was trying to find out where was this place, someone came in. His red eyes immediately went to look at the direction of the door.

"Oh you have awakened at last!" the person, who happened to be a quite young woman, exclaimed. She was familiar looking to the youth. As she went nearer the crimson eyed youth, he kept staring at her all the time. "You are Ichinomiya Kantaro, am I right? Long time no sees, Kantaro," she said, smiling gently at him.

Kantaro, who doubted his guess before, could only stare at her in mild bewilderment. Apparently he recognized the woman, and the place he was at. "I'm…back in the village? I'm sorry to bother you, I should be going now…," he said immediately and was going to get into a sitting position by himself before he was stopped by the woman.

Her sapphire eyes looked into his crimson ones with concern and understanding. She gently placed her hands on Kantaro's shoulders. "Remember, Kantaro, you are severely wounded. If you force yourself to move without any help, it will become worse. So, for now, call me if you need help okay?" she gave him a reassuring smile before she went out for a moment and came back with a tray of food and a glass of water. "It's okay for you to stay here, Kantaro. Don't worry about that," she added while placing the tray on a small desk nearby. "Come, I will help you to get into a sitting position."

He hesitated for a while before he let himself to be pulled gently by the woman into a sitting position. It was true that without any help, the crimson eyed youth knew he would not be able to sit with ease. "I…Thank you. I will try to heal as soon as possible and won't trouble you for long, Sakuya-san," he said softly. The woman, named Sakuya could only smile warmly and nodded slightly.

Kantaro was born in this small village. Ever since he was born, he had the unique ability to see and even talk to any demons, monsters, and as well as ghosts, whereas the others could not. Thanks to his special ability, he was often bullied and rejected by the other villagers. Another reason for this was, he used to side with the demons and believed that he could be good friends with them since they were not as horrible as others thought they might be. Thus, it made the villagers annoyed and some even frightened of him. Even his own parents did not seem to be fond of this and left him alone by leaving the village.

That was why Kantaro did not want to go back to the village alone. He also did not want to be seen staying in Sakuya's house since he knew he could bring problems to her. It seemed like ironic of him to want to visit his hometown again, but in fact it was not. Although his born place was filled with bitter memories, it was also filled with joyful memories, no matter how little it seemed to be. He still remembered, there were where he learned about a certain tengu…and how the news filled him up with hopes, the strength to move on, and also determination.

He would never forget the place where he had found his greatest hope. No matter what happened.

"Have you seen a bowl?" a sudden realization hit his head hard before he could even start to dig in his food. Sakuya quickly rose and pulled a drawer. Then, she took out a dirty bowl and handed it to Kantaro, who used his left hand to receive it with great relief. "So it is not lost or broken," he murmured happily to himself while checking the bowl. "Thank you."

"It seems like it is an important thing to you, Kantaro," she said. "Although I might not know of its value, but I can see how you feel."

He only smiled, despite the fact he was still in pain. "Yes…it is…," he admitted in a light voice, almost unheard. "It is very important…," he murmured to himself while tightening the grip on the bowl, as if it was the source of his life…

: **To be continued… :**

_Edited: Finally…finished editing this chapter as well. It seemed like I was making a lot of mistakes here…:sweatdrops: Well, I will continue to edit them chapter per chapter. There are a few changes in small details as well (if you ever noticed lol)._

Reply to reviewer:

Rubydream: Thank you for such long review. I am happy to receive such kind review from you. I will take your words and change my style of writing for the one-sentence-thing. About Kantaro…I would not let him die, do not worry. XD Since he is also my favorite character! X3

Khealchan: Aww…thank you for the review.

White sherry: Aww…thanks! Actually I won't let Kantaro dies in this fiction (but planning to do so in another fiction that is on my mind… XP ). Haruka is really cold-hearted in this fiction… :sweat drops: Well, at least he has his own reasons. XD Thanks again and hope you enjoy this part!


	3. Of missing and searching

**Waiting for you**

Disclaimer: (Yoko: Tactics is not hers, as well as Kan-chan, Haruka-chan and others, especially me! XD )

Rating: PG or K+ (rating will go up in the future)

Genres: Slightly AU, action/adventure, tragedy

Pairing: Slightly Sugino and Moo

Warnings or notes: Slightly AU, spoilers for manga and anime, OOC-ness, grammar and other errors, around 1500 words, a minor original character is included for a few chapters, added a minor section of details for Sakuya.

Japanese terms:

_-sama – _This word means 'lord' or used to show great respect towards someone

_-san – _This word means 'mister' or 'miss'

I will try to make this story as interesting as possible…The plot is there, only that I need time to type and edit it (I am having an important exam now). I do not have a beta reader, so please forgive my mistakes. Thanks for reading and I hope you will review.

Important note: I am informed of Kantaro's name. His name is spelled as 'Kantarou' in the beginning of the anime. However, in the end, his name becomes 'Kantaro' without the 'u' at the back. Nevertheless, since it is not a big matter, I will leave his name as 'Kantaro'. Hope you do not mind.

**: ooo :**

Chapter 3-Of missing and searching

"Moo-chan?" Sugino looked down at his so-called 'wife', the little green creature with the ever gentle expression on the handsome white-winged tengu's face. The adorable demon 'moo-ed' again to inform the long haired tengu about something important.

"What is it, Moo-chan? Do you find out Kan-chan or Haruka-chan's whereabouts?" the worried demon fox asked nervously. She was dying to search for both of the mentioned men. The three of them had been searching for both of them for hours, and yet, they were still clueless. Tired and also irritated for being unable to find any of them, Yoko was desperate when Moo gave a soft signal.

The green demon 'moo-ed' repeatedly as Moo was only capable of saying the same word; 'moo'. Nevertheless, demons were special for they did understand the language, unlike normal humans. "You are saying that Onikui is at 'that' place? And that guy is back to his own village?" Sugino asked for confirmation even though he knew pretty well what the reply would be. Moo nodded eagerly as a reply.

Yoko, who was watching them all the time, was amused at Moo's ability. The demon was really amazing. Moo seemed to be able to do many things that other demons were incapable of. 'Unlike me…I can't do anything for any of them but house chores and working…,' she thought sadly and unknown to her, her head was looking at the ground and her bangs were covering her eyes. By seeing this, the so-called God, Sugino's eyes softened and he placed a reassuring hand on her small shoulder.

"Do not think too much. You are the one who said that 'we must find both of them quickly'," he said, as if he could read the younger female's mind all too well. "Now that we know of their whereabouts, why don't we go on the separate ways?" Sugino asked with the soft voice in a brotherly way. Upon hearing this, Yoko nodded almost too quickly as an agreement. The white-winged tengu smiled. "Okay then, I would go for Onikui and you go for Kantaro okay?" he asked while his hand patted on Yoko's head as if she was his younger sister.

The demon fox found this comforting and relaxing. She gave a thin smile and replied, "…yes. I will go to search for Kan-chan. Please bring Haruka-chan back, Sugino-sama," she was used to call Sugino like that, since she admired and respected the tengu. Even Moo 'moo-ed' and wished Yoko 'good luck'.

Sugino's smile faded and returned with a frown. "Who will go and search for that heartless guy! He charmed Moo-chan with a spell, I am sure!" he exclaimed childishly while hugging his 'wife' tightly, not wanting to let go. His sudden outburst was none of the unusual when speaking of the infamous folklorist, Kantaro. Yet, it made the demon fox almost fell on the ground comically. When she regained her composure, she packed and was ready to leave on a journey to Kantaro's hometown. Somehow, she had this bad feeling. It was as if something bad had happened, or would happen. She was not sure, but certainly she would find out soon.

"Do not worry…I will bring Onikui back…if not for that guy's sake, I will do it for your sake. However, if he chooses not to…," Sugino's speech was halted. He was the black-winged tengu's friend for so long and thus he knew the famous orge eater's attitude too well. Despite his charming face, he could be stubborn when he wanted to. If he did not want to come back, no one and nothing could make him to change his decision.

Up to this point, the demon fox knew it very well. Even though Haruka was here for not so long, she could read him quite well at times. Nevertheless, she would be persistent if necessary. Now, however, was not the right time to argue for her top priority was to find Kantaro first. "It's okay…I understand. But please try your best, Sugino-sama." With that, Sugino nodded while his white silvery wings appeared. Then, he flew off, with Moo was still in his arms.

"Kan-chan…please does not let anything happen to you…," she silently wished as she set off to the destined village alone…

Meanwhile, the crimson-eyed youth was still on his bed. When he learned that Haruka's bowl was safe, he was relieved. Despite his appearance and behaviors before, he knew very well that the bowl was too important to his slave. And because of that, he would not do anything bad to this dirty and yet priceless bowl. It was just one of his acting. He acted to throw away and broke the bowl, actually it was another bowl that was similar to Haruka's, in order to…Well…now that not this mattered. As long as the bowl was safe now.

"Yoko must be worried…," Kantaro murmured. Sakuya had gone out of the house to buy new bandages for him. In this huge house, you would expect there were many recipients. But in fact, this house was only occupied by Sakuya herself. Her husband was dead in an accident, and they had neither children nor relatives. Now that she had gone out, Kantaro was alone in this house. He was beginning to feel weird. His head was spinning and his body began to burn. And it was not helping him a little when he began to cough violently as well.

Kantaro's senses were starting to wear off. He could no longer feel anything. He could only see very blurred surroundings as his body was falling off the bed. The last thing he saw was the floor and the last thing he heard was a yelp of surprise. Then everything was black. He had collapsed; fell off from his bed onto the ground in his very weak condition.

"Kantaro!" the all too familiar voice yelped when she rushed to his side almost immediately. With a great effort, she helped him to his bed. She pushed the collapsed youth gently onto the bed and tended him as soon as possible. Things worsened when she learned that Kantaro was feverish. It was no wonder that he had collapsed. He was having a high fever, a real high fever. She scolded herself. She should have bought the medicine just now.

Time seemed to pass swiftly as she paced here and there to tend Kantaro. She was tired, but she would not stop. Kantaro was her savior long time ago. She owed him her life. Thus, she would do anything in her power to save him. Just when she was hoping for a helping hand, someone appeared on the window and looking very concerned. "Kan-chan!" the girl had a shoulder length hair and she was gasping for air. Apparently she was running and was exhausted.

Sakuya had seen this girl and she recognized her as Yoko, Kantaro's assistant (she did not know that Yoko was a demon, or that she was Kantaro's slave) for she had seen her once long time ago. Immediately she went to invite her in. "Yoko-chan!"

"Sakuya-san, Kan-chan…What happened to Kan-chan!" Yoko almost ran to her master's side. Upon seeing his master's sweating and painful expression, she was on the edge of crying. Sakuya closed the door and patted on the demon fox's shoulder gently.

"He fell from a cliff back there. I found him and with a little bit of effort, I managed to bring him back here to tend his wounds. Now he has a high fever…," she replied almost too calmly. "Luckily you are here now…He was calling for someone named 'Haruka' when I first brought him in. And I heard your name as well. I assume something happened and he was unable to contact you or this Haruka."

'Haruka-chan…,' Yoko's face showed regret and sadness when she was reminded of Haruka. 'I wonder if Sugino-sama manages to persuade him…'

"Thank you, Sakuya-san. I will take your place and take care of him…," she said while wiping the tears that had managed to fall down and moved near to watch Kantaro. Her crimson-eyed master stirred and was breathing in a short, fast pace. Sakuya watched her in silence for a moment before deciding to leave both of them alone.

"I will leave him to you then... and Yoko-chan, if you ever need anything, please tell me okay?" she said, almost becoming a whisper and with that, she went out of the room.

"Ha…ru…ka…," a sudden soft call startled Yoko. It was her master's voice, and it sounded very desperate for some reasons.

Her eyes softened as she reached for her master's bang and gently pushed them out of the way. "He will be here soon, Kan-chan," she whispered. Seeing her master in such serious condition was not a favorable thing to her. It was true that she knew he had huge risk at times, but never like this. Even when he was injured in the past, it was never this serious. To fall from a cliff…

"Just hang in there, Kan-chan…I will find Haruka-chan."

**: To be continued :**

_Edited: Woot…The third chapter done as well! Yeah, a few changes on details…but nothing affected the story much. Just some mistakes I did of the storyline._

**Addition: **Please take note that Sakuya is a minor original character. To avoid confusion, I will write details of her below. The story won't be affected even if you do not read it.

Name: _Tatsumi Sakuya (maiden name: Inoue Sakuya)_

Age: _29_

Appearances: _Long tied hair, pair of sapphire eyes, pretty face with motherly smile. She has quite a strong stamina despite the fact she looks lovely._

Personalities: _She is a determined woman that would do anything to repay Kantaro's kindness. She is seen as a kind and caring woman. Intelligent and quick mind are her strong points. Apart from that, she is a good wife._

Relationship with Kantaro: _She sees him as her friend as well as savior and nothing else, although her parents believed that she had a feeling for him ever since he saved her._

Background: _She is born in Kantaro's hometown and she was a rich man's daughter before she married to her husband. As a child, she was taught to get away from Kantaro and she obeyed without a word. Once she was almost killed by a ghost if Kantaro was not there to save her. Since then, she respects him and feels that she owes him her life. Thus, she always gives her best to help Kantaro whenever he is in a trouble. However, her family found out and punished her for this. When Kantaro was kicked out of the village, she was unable to help due to her parents. Later, she was married to Tatsumi Ryousuke, a young owner of a famous trading shop at the age of seventeen. Her husband died when she was 24._

Actually I dislike adding original character(s) into any fanfiction, but in this situation, I could not help it since she is an important support-character.

Reply to reviewers:

Rubydream: XD Thanks for the review:hugs: Sometimes I wonder just what Moo-chan can do so I use her as a radar in this fiction :lol:. Anyway, your review made me so happy. :glomps: Aww…thanks again!

Fuji Rei: Yes, your question is explained in this chapter. What Haruka saw was another similar bowl that Kantaro had. XP Thanks for the review!

Akai-Akegata: Thank you for the review. I am happy to know that you like the story so far. I hope you enjoy this chapter and I will try to update sooner okay:smiles:

WhiteSherry: Aww…thanks for such warming review:hugs: I hope you like this chapter!

Khealchan: I am happy that you reviewed in the last chapter:smiles: I will make it a happy ending, but the story-line so far is quite angst and torturing for Kantaro :lol:. I hope you do not mind and thanks for the review!

AnimeWrite2: Thank you for your short but encouraging review. :bows:


	4. Of running and hunting

**Waiting for you**

Disclaimer: Nope, no matter what, Tactics will not belong to me.

Rating: PG or K+ (rating will go up in the future)

Genres: Slightly AU, action/adventure, tragedy

Pairings: Slight Sugino and Moo

Warning or notes: Slightly AU for Kantaro's background, minor spoilers for both manga and anime, OOC-ness, grammar or other errors, 1200 words. This chapter alone is focused on Haruka and also Sugino. Oh yeah, before I forget, Moo is a female (if you have watched the whole set of the anime, you should have known already). XD

I am sorry to write such boring chapter. But this story does have a plot (yeah, I told this in the last chapter…) I hope you will give reviews and even ideas to help me. Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy! Yeah, I guess reviews really make authors happier and work faster. :laughs: I am so happy to have encouraging reviews and that lightens up my life. Aww…I am thankful to you all for reading and more than grateful to those reviewers. :hugs:

I try to make this story the longest story I have ever posted on To surpass an-8-chapters-fanfiction…I guess I need to work harder. XD Chapter 5 is actually done but needs to be re-checked and to be edited by myself once again. That would take a while though. Hopefully I would get some ideas to fill in the gaps or such. Anyway, I rant too much and please continue on reading. Thanks!

**: ooo :**

Chapter 4-Of running and hunting

In the sky, there was a flying figure. The flying figure passed by swiftly from villages to forests, apparently in a hurry to hunt for something, or rather, someone. No one was able to notice him, or to say, no one cared to look up the sky when the weather was so hot. Soon, the flying figure, obviously it was the white-winged Sugino, made a quick land on the ground. He chose to stop in front of a broken stone. The broken stone was in fact, the sign of a broken seal of a certain tengu nicknamed 'Orge Eater Tengu' for his vicious attitude in the past.

"So, you really are here," Sugino remarked dryly. The person, no…the tengu he was hunting was sitting on the broken stone, with his back facing him. Sugino doubted that his friend would ever be on that place again when he was informed of his disappearance. Yet, since his 'wife', Moo could sense his presence in this place, his doubt was cleared. "Yoko is so worried about you," he added, trying to initiate a conversation since the black-winged tengu made no reply in the first place. Moo nodded in agreement. She was still in Sugino's protective arms.

"I would not go back, if that is why you are here," Haruka stated nonchalantly. He was in his casual western suit with a nice red tie, which it could be tied as a ribbon. It seemed like he was in a foul mood that he did not even turn to look at the other. One could have mistaken his attitude as a cold-hearted lad, only if they had not known him. But for one that had known him for so long, Sugino only sighed.

"I understand your feelings, Onikui, but you cannot run like this forever, can you?" Sugino asked softly. He was surprised to find himself saying something on Kantaro's behalf…Wait…He did not say that to convince Haruka to go back to Kantaro's, but at least to solve the problem, not to run away from the problem like a coward. 'Yes, that is it…,' his mind said. 'Run away can't help anything…'

"He _broke_ my bowl," the handsome tengu said, without answering Sugino's question. Apparently he was stubborn NOT to go back just like this. He swore to himself, he would not go back, even if Kantaro is in trouble. Because his master…no…his _ex-master_ deserved it. His words somehow annoyed Sugino, who was wise and calm most of the times, well, that was if it did not related to that infamous crimson-eyed folklorist.

In annoyance, he said, "So? You are going to sulk like this? For how long? Till he dies?" Haruka frowned. Then Sugino continued, wondering if he could change Haruka's decision for once. "For your information, demons that are named by humans cannot go against their masters, no matter what. If you are going to be like this, you are the one who will suffer. Why don't you go to Kantaro and demand him to release the seal instead of wasting your time doing nothing?" It was not like Haruka did not know that demons could not disobey their masters, it was only a way of speaking for Sugino.

Still, Haruka, who was not looking at his friend from the beginning, did not answer Sugino. Somehow Sugino's words rang in his head. Sometimes Haruka admitted that the fussy tengu was wise in some ways and was able to help him at least for a few useful advices. This time, it was the same.

Upon seeing no response from the black-haired tengu, Sugino continued to preach. "You know, if you want, I would help you to punch him or kick him for breaking such important thing to a tengu on purpose. But, seriously, do you think by doing that it would mend anything?" Sugino's eyes looked straight at the silent tengu. He was not sure of Haruka's feelings at the moment, but surely he could guess for judging on his relationship with the famous tengu. He could almost see the other winced. Maybe he could twist the stubborn tengu's mind by a bit…Then he took a few steps forward.

"I might as well tell you this. That guy has been missing for a week. Yoko is going to search for him, after she asked me to hunt for you," the God added, somehow unconsciously tightened his grip on the cute green demon in his arms. She gave soft 'moo-s' occasionally during Sugino's speeches, as if to support him. When Sugino reached Haruka, he gave a light pat on his shoulder. Finally, the stubborn tengu turned to look at the long haired tengu.

After a long silence, Haruka finally opened his sealed mouth. "I do not care anything. It is him who has been running away for so long. This time, I do not care anymore. Either he comes here himself, or he chooses to run away forever." Yes, Sugino's words did knock some senses into him just now. Yet his determination was firm. Nothing would be able to shake it off easily.

Sugino let out a deep sigh. It seemed like he was hoping too much from his friend. He should have known it would not be such easy to convince Haruka to go back just like this. That guy was _way_ too stubborn for his own good. "I guess I fail to convince you, Onikui. You are really stubborn," he said, giving a bitter smile.

Actually, Sugino admitted, he sided with his friend in this matter. He really wished that he could give a good punishment to that infamous folklorist, as well as ghost buster by the name of Ichinomiya Kantaro. He always gave Yoko, Haruka and him nothing but troubles. But on a second thought, it would not make things better, would it? Now that he should act as a lecturer, he had to see from another point. He promised Yoko that he would try his best to convince the famous Orge Eater tengu, and so he did. He did his best already. Only that was not enough for Haruka to go back.

"I take it as a compliment," was the unexpected reply from the short haired tengu. The other scratched his head and settled down beside Haruka. Moo jumped towards Haruka when she felt her 'husband's' grip loosened.

"You will wait for him here, will you not?" asked Sugino, his eyes looked straight into Haruka's. The other just kept silence. But Sugino knew better. It was a 'yes' to his question, although he knew that the black-winged tengu would never admit. After a while, Sugino decided to fly back to Yoko's to tell her the failed attempt. She would probably worry to death if he did not go back as soon as possible. At least, she could inform it to that annoying ghost buster that tried to steal away his 'wife'. He did not have the time to deal with the possible consequences. "If so…then I would have to go now," Sugino rose and he picked up his 'wife' gently.

In a second, his silvery white wings flapped off and he was once again flying in the now darkened sky. Haruka just looked up with his eyes softened. "Missing for a week?" was what he muttered to himself. But his voice did not show worry or concern, it was more to a doubt. It was like…a mysterious confusion within one self…

**: To be continued :**

_Edited: Hehehe, finished editing this one also. Same as the previous chapters, just a minor edit of some parts. _

Replies:

Khealchan: Aww:hugs: I am so happy that you enjoy this story of mine! Thanks again for the review on each chapter. You make my life brighter. :laughs: Hehe, please do not worry, I will not make dear Kan-chan dies! XD Fangirl? Hahaha, I might be one as well though! Yeah, and I hope you like this chapter as well!

WhiteSherry: Thanks for the review! I think there will be angst till the end of the story :lol:. XP Kan-chan will be so poor…in the future. XD I am such evil author with evil ideas. :laughs:

Rubydream: Nyu…I am sorry na, making the chapters stop as cliffhangers, but I guess it is something I do without realizing it. :giggles: I bet this chapter also. :sweatdrops: However, thanks for the review! It really makes me a happy girl. XD I hope you will like this chapter as well!

Yummy Yaoi: On the edge of your seat? I do not know my story will make people feel that way… :laughs: Anyway, I am so grateful for your review and thanks! I will try to update sooner.


	5. One confusion after another

**Waiting for you**

Disclaimer: If I own Tactics, I would be drawing it, not writing fanfictions about it. :D

Rating: PG or K+ (rating will go up in the future)

Genres: Slightly AU, action/adventure, tragedy, suspense (surprisingly this is my first fic without romance:P )

Pairings: Slight Sugino and Moo

Warning or notes: Slightly AU for Kantaro's background, minor spoilers for both manga and anime, OOC-ness, an original character, grammar or other errors, poor attempt at humor :sweatdrops, 1600 words. Please keep in mind that Sugino does not know that Kantaro still has Haruka's bowl.

I enjoy writing this story so much. I am more than happy that people are reading and continue to do so. Thank you so much and really…I hope you will review to tell me what you think of my story. Reviews make every author happy, do they not:laughs:

Those who are interested to see my fanart of Haruka, you are welcomed to go to http/www(dot)emerald-rei(dot)deviantart(dot)com. :smiles:

This chapter is dedicated to all the kind reviewers. Hope you find this story enjoyable!

**: ooo :**

Chapter 5-One confusion after another

"I am sorry…That was the best I could do," a familiar voice stated clearly. Yes, it was none other than the white-winged so-called God, or tengu by the name of Sugino. He had returned and went to the house of Sakuya's with help from his beloved 'wife' to break the news to the female demon fox. By the time he arrived, Yoko was already at outside in the dark, waiting for him as if she could foretell his arrival beforehand. Making sure that no one was looking, he landed right in front of her without a noise. Then, he told her what happened between him and the black-winged tengu, Haruka. Moo was watching all the time and it seemed like she was sad about what happened too.

Upon hearing this, the demon fox lowered her head with a mixture of sadness and regret. She was really praying that Sugino would be back, or rather, would arrive at Sakuya's house with the other tengu. Kantaro's condition was still no better than before, only his fever was slightly decreased. She was sure, if Haruka somehow would be there, surely their master would heal faster for some unknown reasons. After all, it did not happen only once. If Haruka was missing or ran away, their master would still wear the usual smile on his face. However, behind those masks he wore, there were great grief and hesitation. The young ghost buster or folklorist would never eat or sleep properly. He would continue like that, until his slave came back, or until he went to confront Haruka.

Now that the annoyed tengu refused to come back, Kantaro would not heal properly in a sense. And this worried Yoko greatly. If Sugino failed to persuade him, she decided. 'I would have to bring him back this time…' She was determined. 'Kan-chan did not break his bowl…,' her mind added. Yes, she accidentally saw Haruka's bowl on the table near the ill and wounded youth's bed. The whole incident suddenly came into her mind. She predicted that Kantaro broke the other similar bowl, and he acted as if it was Haruka's. Although the demon fox did not know what was on their master's mind on that time, or why did he do that, she decided to leave that aside for the moment.

"Sugino-sama, please take care of Kan-chan, will you?" the small framed female demon said, almost like a plea. Her brown eyes looked deep into Sugino's black ones. The tengu let out a deep sigh for he had a good idea why did she suddenly ask him to take care of Kantaro. It was always involved around that folklorist, was it not? He was sure, she wanted to confront and ask Haruka to come back. Yet, he was not sure why did she ask him to take care of that annoying guy while Kantaro could take care of himself in the first place…

"Sorry to disturb you, Yoko-chan. Do you have a visitor?" asked a familiar voice in a sudden. The mentioned female demon turned and was greeted by a motherly smile from the mistress of the house, Sakuya. She could not help but to smile a little in return.

"Yes, he is Kan-chan's friend. His name is Sugino," Yoko quickly said, trying to cover the fact that the person in front of Sakuya was a powerful tengu. The word 'friend' annoyed Sugino immediately.

"Oii! Who is that…," he was going to yell and deny the fact he was that stupid guy's friend when Yoko suddenly covered his mouth with her right palm. The sudden act choked him and he coughed several times. Sakuya could only smile at them.

'It is good to see Yoko-chan is feeling a bit better now…,' her mind secretly said as she continued to watch both of them in amusement. "Please come in then," she invited after a moment, realizing that they were still at outside of the house. Both of them stopped and looked at each other before they followed Sakuya without any doubt.

"By the way, I have yet to introduce myself. I am Tatsumi Sakuya. Nice to meet you, Sugino-san," she turned around after they entered the house and gave a little bow at the tengu in respect.

"Nice to meet you too, Sakuya-san," Sugino replied with full of politeness, which it somehow surprised Yoko. Normally the tengu would act quite bold when Kantaro was around, and she was used to it. Suddenly she saw a little green coloured thing behind Sugino's long silky untied hair. Only then she realized Moo was missing. So, that was it! Moo was hiding in Sugino's hair when Sakuya appeared since even normal people could easily see Moo, and would get frightened if they knew it was a demon, no matter how adorable the little demon was.

They continued walking until Sakuya stopped in front of a room. As expected, it was Kantaro's room, which it was a guest room actually. Sakuya slowly pulled the sliding door and revealed a sleeping youth on a bed. Yoko's eyes saddened and Sugino was in mild bewilderment. Together, they walked into the room. Sakuya tried to initiate a conversation to break off the stiffness existed suddenly around them.

"His fever is gone, thank God. Yet, his physical condition is still weak. It is a pity that no doctor here is available. I will go to find a doctor in town soon. So, please don't worry," she said in a low voice. Somehow, the word 'available' was not the right word to use. The doctors were not 'inavailable', they were 'inconsiderate' of Kantaro. To all of the villagers, Kantaro would only bring disaster. So, none of them would lend a hand to him. Only she would help. It was always only her and her husband if he was still alive.

Sugino shot a questioning look at Yoko and then at Sakuya. She understood the look, and explained Kantaro's situation on behalf of Yoko. The tengu could only listen without replying. It seemed like Kantaro really got the punishment for breaking Haruka's bowl and for chasing him away. However, deep down within him, he did feel some pity for the youth, even though he did not know why he would feel that way. 'Kantaro deserves it, does he not?'

"Oh…I am sorry. How rude of me…I forget to serve you tea. I will go immediately. Please wait here, Sugino-san," Sakuya suddenly said and went away before the tengu could stop her. After her absence, Yoko spoke. Moo decided to come out of her hiding place after Sakuya was gone. She went flying towards the still sleeping youth. This time, Sugino did not attempt to stop her surprisingly.

"I will have a word with Haruka-chan. So, please take care of Kan-chan, Sugino-sama." She requested the same thing as before.

Sugino's eyes softened. It would be likely nothing would change even though she decided to confront Haruka. He was way too stubborn. Yet, he knew, Yoko's stubbornness could match Haruka's in some ways. Thus, he did not try to stop her either. "I…"

A sudden glass breaking stunned both of them. Yoko rushed towards the door and was trying to figure out what was wrong when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "You stay here. I will see what's wrong with Sakuya-san," Sugino stated dryly. Hearing this, Yoko nodded without further argument. With that, Sugino went out of the room towards the source of the noise.

Turning back towards Kantaro, her brown eyes widened slightly when she saw Kantaro's was awoken. Indeed, he was smiling weakly at Moo despite the pain on his whole body. "Kan-chan!"

"Yoko…Sugino-sama…is here, is he not? Then…," the red-eyed youth halted. His slave knew very well what he was trying to ask. He was trying to ask whether Haruka was there or not. The first time when he opened his eyes and saw Yoko, he asked the very same thing. After that, he apologized to Yoko for worrying her. She shook her head at that time, tried to shrug the feeling of guilty inside Kantaro.

This time, Yoko had to shake her head as a 'no' sign again. Kantaro could only smile sadly in return as he knew what she meant. "I see…"

"But don't worry, I will find him. You didn't break his bowl. I know that…," Yoko added desperately. She really hated to see such sad and broken face Kantaro wore. No matter how hard Kantaro tried to cover them with a fake mask, she just knew it was false.

To her astonishment, the infamous folklorist stopped her. "No!" he shouted in a sudden, almost jumping up from his lying position. Immediately his left hand went to clutch on his aching torso. Yoko rushed to his side in a jerk.

"Yoko…no…Do not do so…Do not reveal the fact that I did not break his bowl…," Kantaro said, sounded almost begging her, despite the fact he could order her forcefully if he wanted for being her master. The demon fox did not understand. Why? Why would he say so? Did he not the one who felt the pain of Haruka's disappearance? Did he not the one who wished to see Haruka in this condition?

But…how could she say no when Kantaro, who was her master, looked into her huge brown eyes like this? With such desperate look? She had not seen such look showing on his face before. It was so confusing. The youth's behavior was so confusing. Everything was so confusing. Ichinomiya Kantaro was a big confusion, to start with.

"I do not understand…," she admitted finally, ignoring his earlier plea.

Right after that, Kantaro returned to his usual nonchalant face as he was feeling slightly better. "You do not have to understand," he stated a matter of fact, shocking Yoko more. Even his actions shocked the little green creature, Moo.

"No one needs to understand…," his words were inaudible to anyone except himself. "No one…not even _him_…"

**: To be continued :**

_Edited: To be truthful, I don't know what to edit this chapter…I tried to find some mistakes which I know I did somewhere, but failed as my English level is still…poor, yeah. If anyone finds some mistakes, please tell me so I can edit them to give the best to the readers. Thanks!_

Replies:

Kheal-chan: Yeah, I got the inspiration from the manga where Haruka is feeling gloomy about his bowl. It is so cute. XD Thanks for such encouraging review. :hugs: I will update as soon as possible after I edit my own story. :chuckles: You don't handle suspense too well? Actually, neither am I. :laughs: But you will see it soon why Kantaro is acting weird. Hope you will like the story then!

Ruby-dream: Nyu…:laughs: Yes, I think I told a reader that Haruka will be cold-hearted (in other words, mean :P ) in this story for his own reasons. I just can't help to torture Kantaro with Haruka's coldness. XP Thanks for saying my writing skills have improved:hugs: Hai hai :nods, my punishment is fulfilled I guess? XD Opps…another cliffhanger…I wonder what will be my punishment this time:laughs: Anyway, thanks again for the support!

Akai-Akegata: Thanks a million for the review! I guess Haruka is a bit easier to keep in character than the others. :grins: I will try my best to update sooner. :) Hope you like this chapter!

Yummy Yaoi: Aww..thank you for the review. Cliffhanger specialist? Me:chuckles: I guess I just get used to write chapters as cliffhangers for I limit my multi-chapters to be around 1300-1600 words. :laughs: Thanks again for the compliment :blushes:. Hope you enjoy reading though no obvious shonen ai in this story. XD

Mizu: It is okay that you couldn't manage to review it earlier. Thanks for such nice review:hugs: They will meet pretty soon, but maybe it is not the type that others like. :sweatdrops: Anyway, hope you like this chapter!

Kazuha: You think this story is the best…:blushes: Oh my…thank you so much! I promise I will update my next chapter sooner okay…:hugs: You make me smile widely until now whenever I remember your review. Thanks again!


	6. A plan in mind

**Waiting for you**

Disclaimer: Tactics would not belong to me no matter what I do. What a pity…

Rating: PG or K+ (rating will go up in the future)

Genres: Slightly AU, action/adventure, tragedy, suspense

Pairings: Sugino and Moo

Warnings or notes: Slightly AU, minor spoilers for both manga and anime, OOC-ness, an original character, grammar or other errors, poor attempt at humor, 1300 words.

I hope readers would not get bored with my story. :sweatdrops: I am trying to add more suspense to make it interesting… XD All unanswered questions would soon be revealed and all puzzles will be solved. I do not want to give away spoilers now (actually I did a mistake to say Kantaro is not going to die in my earlier chapters that would decrease the suspense. Yet, I couldn't make my readers sad to think of that, could I?).

Actually I re-wrote half of this chapter because the previous version is poor. And I pity Yoko so I let her to have a rest in this chapter before hunting for Haruka. XP Anyhow, this chapter is dedicated to all the kind reviewers! I hope you all find it enjoying. Please review after reading. Thanks!

Japanese terms:

_Kitsune_ – fox (those who still do not get it, Yoko is a demon fox. Normally she would stay in her human form)

**: ooo :**

Chapter 6-A plan in mind

"It surprised me that he forbids me to see Haruka-chan," the female demon fox admitted in a timid voice. It seemed like she was hurt by her master's words for telling her that she did not have to understand his purposes. She was telling Sugino about what happened earlier after he had left to check on Sakuya, who dropped the glasses by accident and cut herself in process of picking up the broken shards.

Even the news shocked the long haired tengu, although he tried his best to hide it. This had never happened before. In the past, Kantaro was the one who would act recklessly when it involved around the strongest demon of all, the Ogre Eater tengu. Now, he forbade his slave from seeing the one he claimed to be his most important person of all? 'It got to be kidding,' Sugino's mind said. Nevertheless, he only nodded in agreement.

"He even threatened me with a spell that will keep me in my kitsune form if I disobey his words," Yoko added with a sigh, her fox ears appeared suddenly. The tengu forced a smile and a sweat was forming on his head comically. He pointed at her head with his right hand to inform her of her unconscious act of showing her inhuman parts. Immediately, she hid her fox ears back. "Opps…"

Choosing to dismiss the little incident, he spoke in a crystal clear voice. "He is obviously hiding something from us," as much as he disliked to admit he was somewhat a friend of that short exorcist by using the word 'us', he admitted that he was actually observant when being around the mentioned youth. Although he had not been there when the incidents took place, he surely could judge very well based on Yoko's explanations. That infamous novelist as well as exorcist was planning something in his mind.

"But we can do nothing if he doesn't tell us anything. He is so stubborn at times! AH! Why everyone is acting stubborn now!" she exclaimed, making her companion raised his eyebrow in mild amusement.

'Speaking of that, aren't you one of those stubborn freaks?' he swore he was laughing at her exclaim in his mind. Nevertheless, he decided to keep his thought to himself. It was not the right time to tease and laugh at the female demon. For now that they had a new task on hand; to find out what was Kantaro's mysterious plan. The once mortal tengu could sense something would definitely be ugly if they fail to find out that plan on the youth's mind. 'Huh…like she said, why everyone is so stubborn? I could have spent my precious time with my lovely Moo-chan somewhere catching butterflies…,' before he could go on with his sweet little fantasy, he was tugged by someone.

"But Sugino-sama, I still need to tell Haruka-chan of Kan-chan's current condition. I bet only Haruka-chan could get the secrets out of his mouth, or rather, stop his reckless actions," the female demon fox said in a hush. Like Sugino, she could also feel that whatever Kantaro's plans might be, it would bring disaster. Ah, demons' instincts were really better than humans. "And I don't care what my punishment would be later on."

Looking deeply at Yoko's determined eyes, the God let out a sigh. 'So much of a stubborn freak,' his mind stated. It was then he realized how dark the sky had turned out to be. It would surely be dangerous for a defenseless girl like her, even though she was a demon indeed, to travel alone from this creepy village to where the proud and stubborn tengu awaited. "Wait…If you travel now, it would be too dangerous for you. In addition, I don't think Onikui would like to have two visitors in one day, persuading him to come back. Why don't you wait until tomorrow morning only you go to find him? It wouldn't make things worse to delay our plan a bit," he stated as a matter of fact firmly.

Upon hearing his wise thought, Yoko lowered her head in defeat. Speaking of which, it reminded her that she was actually exhausted and needed a good rest if she wanted to confront Haruka. The whole week she was worried about both her friends, and then she had to search for them. Later, she had to take care of the wounded and sick Kantaro. It had been a very exhausting week for her. 'If Sugino-sama said so…,' both her mind and body agreed heartily to the long haired tengu's earlier statement. "Okay then…I guess I have no choice…"

She walked back towards Kantaro's room and took a glance inside. Sakuya was there, tending Kantaro's bandages tenderly and carefully. Kantaro was looking pale with all the bandages around his small frame. 'Still thinking of the earlier incident, Kan-chan?' Yoko's mind asked, although knowing very well that Kantaro could not read minds like an empathic person. "Sakuya-san, if you don't mind, may I stay the night here?" she knocked the door a few times before she went in, asking for the mistress' permission to stay overnight at her place. When the kind woman heard her voice, she turned and smiled at the younger female.

"Of course you may. I am sure Kantaro would be happy to have you around, right Kantaro?" with that, she turned to look at Kantaro, only to find out that he was deep in thoughts once again.

"Then may I as well?" suddenly came in a familiar male voice. Needless to sat, it was none other than Sugino. "And I would like to be of some help, if you don't mind," he added, flashing a charming smile. Yoko was smiling happily at the willing tengu while Kantaro was oblivious to his surrounding at the moment. Moo? Moo went back to hide in Sugino's long untied black hair. She was silent all the time when both Yoko and Sugino had a talk somewhere in the huge house. It would likely be she was concerned of Kantaro's condition too. Everyone was worried about Kantaro and his weird actions. Well, only one person was oblivious of this…

"You helped me with my cut just now, Sugino-san. Thank you," she answered with another smile, thanking the charming long haired tengu sincerely. "It is my pleasure to have your company for the day," the widow replied politely. 'It is good to see Kantaro with trusted friends around him,' her mind added. "Kantaro, you need to rest early. So, please don't think too much and have a good sleep," she turned her attention back to the youth and slowly pushed him down to the bed. After that, she turned to both Yoko and Sugino. "I will prepare rooms for both of you, please follow me," Sakuya smiled as she took the lead and turned off Kantaro's room light before they exited his room.

Yoko managed to wish 'good night' to her master. Contrary, Sugino just walked out of the room without much but a quick glance towards the young exorcist. After a while, their rooms were ready and Sakuya wished them 'good night' before she went back to room to have a rest herself. Yoko did the same to Sugino as the tengu retreated to his own room with similar wish to the female demon. They were too exhausted after a long day. All of them had plans in their minds for tomorrow. As for Kantaro, the plan might get him killed due to his current health, but he would not stop at any cost.

"I am sorry to all of you…but I have decided to do this for him…," he whispered when he was left alone in his room. His left hand was clutching the fabric on his chest, while the other was gripping on the forgotten bowl of Haruka's. "For he is too important to me…"

**: To be continued :**

_Edited: Hai…replaced a few words throughout the entire chapter. Only a minor edit though. And yeah, added the reply for late review on this chapter as well. :smiles:_

Replies:

Ruby-dream: Thanks for the comment! Cliffhanger…it reminds me that this chapter is one of them… XD :runs away from an angry reader: Hai! I will update soon for the next chapter as well. Hmm…Kantaro is planning something really big in his mind (as I am planning something big for this story… XD ). Yeah, I pity him (Kantaro: you are the one who makes me suffer, evil author!) for his misfortunes. Haruka… :nervous smile: I can't promise that he would be nice soon… (Haruka: Hmph! I am not that mean in your fic.) Anyway, hope you like this chapter!

Kheal-chan: Hehehe, no you are not an annoying bug. Your review brightened up my life! Thanks! Kantaro is really mysterious to me in the manga and anime…so I think it would be better for him to be like that in my story. :smiles: Thanks again!

Akai-Akegata: Thanks for the review and for adding me into your favorite author's list! I am honored. :bows: Aww…exams are evil. I know I am late to say this, but good luck ne:) And thank you again for the support.

Kazuha: Aww…thanks for the compliment. Hai, I will get into plot soon, as well as update soon! Hope you like this chapter too!

Additional replies (for late reviews):

Jez-arinn: Thanks for reading, Carol-chan:hugs: I am really happy that you like the characters in my story…I like to see Kantaro suffers too:laughs: Evil authors na? XD Yes yes, Moo-chan is still the best:cheers: Ah, okay! I hope you enjoy reading ne:hugs: I am sorry for my Grammar though. :bows:

Rubydream: Aww…I missed you! I was wondering where is the kind and cute Ruby-chan (sorry for the nick I gave you :lol: but I can't help it! It is cute… XD )? I was really leapt with happiness when I saw your reviews:hugs: Hehehe, yeah, I don't want to see Kan-chan dies too. But actually…Yoko is trying her best already…What a pity Haruka decides to play mean in Chapter 7! XP (Haruka: It means YOU author are the one being mean, you know?) Thanks for the review ne!


	7. Unstoppable plans

**Waiting for you**

Disclaimer: Tactics is not mine, okay?

Rating: PG or K+ (rating might go up in the future)

Genres: Slightly AU, action/adventure, tragedy, suspense

Pairings: None, unless you count Sugino and Moo as a pair

Warnings or notes: Slightly AU, minor spoilers for both manga and anime, OOC-ness, an original character, grammar or other errors, poor attempt at humor, around 1500 words this chapter.

Hmm…now this story moves on to the next stage as climax will come soon! XD I enjoy so much while writing this story, happier when I received those encouraging reviews! Thanks a lot, dear readers! Oh yeah, another cliffhanger with Kantaro's thought… XD Apparently I like to end my chapter (last two chapter ended with Kantaro being mysterious) as cliffhangers. XP

This chapter reveals more of Kantaro's plan and Yoko is on action (I nearly went over the words-limit I set for myself)! Dedicated once again to my wonderful readers, especially my reviewers as well as Stella, Hispanic Tenshi and Karushna5 for adding this story into your story alert, not forgetting Akai-Akegata,Stella (again), Kofuna Koei and Vampireotaku for the story fave! It might sound childish of me to be happy of this current little achieve (compared to the other good authors, they have much more fans), but I am really grateful to you all.

Hope you enjoy and please review. :bows: Yeah, sorry for the lame titles for my chapters. I am not good in naming titles for each chapter…:sweatdrops:

Japanese terms (inform me if I made a mistake please):

Kindly refer to the previous chapters for _tengu, –chan, -sama, -san, anime, _and _manga. _

_kimono_ – Japanese's traditional wear

_onmyoji­ _– people whose jobs are similar to exorcist (casts evil spirits away with special spells and ceremonies) and priest (performs religious rituals)

: ooo :

Chapter 7-Unstoppable plans

Early in the morning, Yoko was up and she quickly changed her clothes into her usual kimono. 'I must go to see Haruka-chan now,' her mind reminded her as if she would forget her plan. In another swift movement, she went towards her master's room as quiet as possible. Things would be worse if Kantaro knew what her mini plan was.

Ah, the crimson eyed youth was sleeping soundlessly on the huge bed. Satisfied, Yoko then went to find another human in the house; Sakuya. After she had a talk with the widow regarding her so-called-journey to buy something for Kantaro in a far away town and would probably take a day, she went towards the main gate to start her hunt. A figure passed by in front of her and actually stopped, blocking her way. Seeing the black silky long hair, she did not have to look up to know who it was. Obviously, it was Sugino with Moo once again hiding in his hair, which the God was happy to have her do that.

"Sugino-sama, good morning," she greeted with her usual smile. It seemed like a good night's rest really washed away her exhaustions from the day before. She was feeling better in both physical and mental. Upon hearing her greet, the white winged tengu could not help but to smile and wished her a 'good morning' in return.

"So, are you going now?" he asked after a few moments of silence. The demon fox only nodded as a reply. Sugino raised an eyebrow, but remained silent. That girl sure was energetic. Just woke up and went straight away to find Haruka. Surely this time the proud tengu would have a little problem with this female demon.

"Okay then, I will go now," the female youth said, waving her right hand as a signal for her little departure. Before she could take two steps, the long haired tengu stopped her.

"Do you know where he is anyway?" was a simple question from the God.

Supposed it was a yes, but to dear Yoko, it made her wondered. "Oh yeah...Where is he?" she asked Sugino back, repeating after him. Sugino fell on the ground comically. When he regained his composure, he shook his head, doubting her ability to take care of herself for she was such a blur girl.

Sugino sighed deeply. He did not have a choice, did he now? "Okay…I will go with you. Moo will have to stay and watch that guy," he finally managed to voice out his thought from yesterday. It was true that he preferred to stay and watch the young exorcist to make sure he did not take advantage of his cute beloved 'wife'. Yet, he was worried of Yoko's safety to travel alone. In addition, the journey would not be easy. If they fly to there, things would be better and faster.

Right after he said those words, a little green demon made her appearance in front of them. "Moo!" said the cute creature with a face of content. She was happy to oblige to stay with Kantaro. After all, he was the one who 'saved' her in the hot spring. She grew fond of him at the first sight. No matter how cross her 'husband' would be when she fussed around the young man, she still do that nonetheless.

Sugino eyed his 'wife' with defeated look. It seemed useless for him to argue with her over that shorter human. No matter how, she just would not listen to him. What was so good about him anyway? Decided to end things fast and avoid any further delay, he turned back at Yoko. "Let's go fast. Before that guy wakes up and finds out," he stated. Yoko only nodded.

After he made sure Sakuya was not around, his wings appeared; making him looked really like an angel. Then, he asked Yoko to cling on him tightly to prevent her from falling down during the journey. Before they departed, Sugino actually nagged his beloved 'wife' and asked her not to be too close to Kantaro like usual. Yoko sighed and pulled Sugino's T-shirt (he had to wear something else apart from his tengu clothes to avoid stares). Biding their 'goodbyes', both demons set off as Sugino's silvery wings flapped off.

On the other hand, Sakuya entered Kantaro's room with a tray of food and a glass of his favorite green tea. Noticing that Kantaro had awakened, she greeted him with the usual 'good morning', followed by a 'good morning' from Kantaro. "Feeling better now?" she asked while helping Kantaro to sit.

The wounded youth averted his red eyes to look at her sapphire's orbs. After a moment of hesitation, he shook his head. "I am feeling dizzy and slight nausea."

Sakuya's eyes softened with concern and sympathy. It must be hard for him. "I will go find a doctor in town, okay? Is it okay to leave you alone like this?" she asked again, unconsciously implied that the demons were not around. Although, it was not as if Kantaro did not know of it. He knew Yoko long enough to understand her character and stubbornness. She must had ignored his threat and still set off to confront his other male slave.

Deciding to go on with his own big plan, he nodded eagerly. Deep within, he apologized to the kind widow for her troubles. It was so unkind of him to lie to her, but he could not take to risk to tell anyone of his plan. Everyone would probably end up in stopping him. Well, maybe not Sugino, but not that it mattered right now. "Thank you, Sakuya-san," he murmured timidly while feeding himself a spoon of chicken porridge that the mistress had brought to him for breakfast.

After that, Sakuya told Kantaro to wait for her return for about two hours maximum. She even brought in some food and a teapot of tea for him incase he was hungry. "Please rest before I come back then," she advised and went out to the nearest town to find a willing doctor. Soon after her figure was out of sight, Kantaro was on action. Before he could start, a green creature appeared suddenly in front of him, making him stunned. He had forgotten all about Moo!

Apparently only Moo could truly sense what Kantaro was trying to achieve. She tried her best to convince the stubborn youth in her own ways. Nevertheless, Kantaro would let nothing to stop him. It was his top priority, and maybe the only chance he got. Instead, he tried to make Moo understand. "Please, Moo-chan…Sugino-sama wants this too right?" he asked, trying to persuade Moo not to interfere.

Moo shook her head harshly. "Moo! Moo! Moo!" she 'moo-ed' urgently to show that she was sure Sugino, her 'self-claimed husband' would not agree. But to Kantaro, it would be otherwise. He knew Sugino would want this. Maybe not in this way, but the result was what counted right? Up to this point, the young folklorist was forced to use his power to waste no time further.

"I am sorry, Moo-chan…," he apologized before Moo found herself being paralyzed by a paper spell. She struggled under the spell, trying to break off. But when Kantaro was serious, his spiritual power appeared to be stronger. Thus, she could not manage to escape. Her eyes were slowly closing to the sudden urge to doze off. Must be the spell taking its effect. Sooner or later, a certain green demon was asleep on the floor before she was gently placed on a large bed.

Pulling out a piece of white paper and holding a brush, his left hand moved as swiftly as it could to write a spell. Actually, he was not a left-handed. But due to his injuries on his right side, he was forced to write the spell with his left hand. Finally, the spell was well written and he cast the spell in a professional-like way. A bright light followed afterwards as it surrounded his whole body like welcoming him with its embrace. Kantaro relaxed into the warmth. Soon, he felt no longer pain on his torso. The spell worked just perfectly.

"Step 1 done, now move on to Step 2," he murmured as he grabbed the familiar old bowl as well as his onmyoji's clothes. With great effort, he managed to go through the challenge to change his clothes with one hand. Although the pain might be gone, that did not mean his limbs were able to work like normal. The spell could only act as pain killer, nothing more, and nothing less. After he had done with his clothes and placed the bowl somewhere within his sleeve, he walked as fast as his injured feet could bring him to. It seemed like hours for him to reach the destination with such condition.

Finally he arrived at an abandoned temple not far from a well-known forest to him. He knew someone was waiting for him in that forest and he soon would meet him. Soon, but not now. Settling down all the important tools for the soon-to-take-place ceremony, the young exorcist closed his eyes while his mouth murmured a complicated spell. 'Everything would end soon…Very soon.'

**: To be continued :**

:mimics Kan-chan: Everything would end soon…Very soon. You would end soon too, Kan-chan. XD Just kidding. Nonetheless, the story would not end that soon. More conflicts will come. :winks: Oh, I love making people suspense.

Replies (I noticed that usually I will get 4 reviews at least in a week after an update. Thanks for those nice reviews, dear!):

Kazuha: I hope this chapter reveals more hints and satisfies you. :smiles: Thanks a lot for the support again, dear. I am really happy to hear that from you!

Yummy Yaoi: First of all, thank you for the review:hugs: Hmm…When will both of them meet? I suppose they will meet in the next chapter or in chapter 9. It would be a disastrous (oh, what a strong word XD ) reunion, I would say. Anyway, I will be mysterious as well by not spoiling the plot. :laughs:

NaStUkO-ChAn: I pity Kan-chan for he is suffering a lot in this fic. XD Haha, thanks for the reviews. Not only this fic, but for others as well. I wrote a one-shot especially for your kindness, 'A dream comes true'. Hope you like it! Hai, I will try to update as soon as possible. XD Thanks again!

Mizu: Thanks a lot for spending your time to write a review:hugs: Your internet is getting better ne? Good to hear that:smiles: Hope you like this chapter and also hopefully it doesn't bore you. :sweatdrops:


	8. Atonement and forgiveness

**Waiting for you**

Disclaimer: (Kantaro: If Tactics belongs to this little devil author, I am dead meat.) XD Yeah, Tactics is not mine, be grateful, Kantaro!

Rating: PG or K+ (rating might go up in the future)

Genres: Slightly AU, action/adventure, tragedy, suspense

Pairings: None, unless you count Sugino and Moo as a pair

Warnings or notes: Slightly AU in the beginning, minor spoilers for both manga and anime, OOC-ness, grammar or other errors, poor attempt at humor, around 1600 words this chapter.

I am afraid that Kantaro, Haruka and the rest would be OOC in my story, but a few reviewers told me they are IC in my story! I am happy to hear that, for keeping them in characters is not easy…when my English itself being my third language, poor, lack of vocabulary and such. Anyway, thanks for pointing it out for it gives me encouragement.

So fast I am getting into chapter 8 already…I guess this fiction really breaks my record for the longest story I have ever written and posted in Of course, I would not have this achievement if not you, my readers and also reviewers have been supporting me! I might have given up already if not you all being here with me. Thanks to you all!

Last but not least, kindly leave a review after reading okay:hands cookies: Oh yeah, after this chapter, it will be mainly focused on Kantaro and Haruka! Oh Lord, I dragged my story too far…Sorry.

Japanese terms:

Kindly refer to the past chapters. :bows:

**: ooo :**

Chapter 8-Atonement and forgiveness

"I call upon the mighty Gods for your aids…," and the chant went on swiftly as the silver haired youth murmured under his breathes. Sweats were obviously forming on his pale skin. He was pushing himself over the limit, and he knew it very well. Yet, in order to complete his current task, he could not stop nor delay just to take a break. His eyelids were very heavy now. They were almost half closing already, yet the young exorcist forced himself to keep them open. He had to finish the ritual no matter what. 'Please oh Gods…come to your child now…For he needs you more than anything…He may be sinful…but he ought to be forgiven…,' his mind prayed heartily while his mouth moved on to continue chanting.

'I will offer you anything for the forgiveness…I will atone my sins…for hurting others, even if it costs my life. Please…give me a chance to atone the sins my ancestors did and for the sins I bear within.'

On the other hand, Sugino and Yoko were already there, where the famous Ogre Eater tengu awaited his master's appearance. As soon as both of them appeared, Haruka's eyes narrowed. His face showed nothing, not even a glimpse of surprise nor confusion. Moreover, he did not say anything until the female demon fox spoke. "Haruka-chan! Please come back!" she pleaded, resisting the urge to run forward and pull the tengu forcefully to go back home like kidnapping.

Sugino only sighed and decided to watch for the response from his friend he knew very well in the past. One stubborn freak with extremely thick skull was more than enough to him, but now two of them were summed up. One stubborn freak plus one thick skull tengu equaled to chaos. The God sighed deeply. Oh, if not for that eyesore exorcist, he would not have been involved at all. Speaking of which, why did he care in the first place anyway?

"If he asks you to come and beg me to go back, tell him not to waste his time and energy," was the firm reply from the strongest of all demons. Sugino raised an eyebrow. Something was amiss with his friend. But what was it and why?

"No! It is not that way! Kan-chan did not ask me to come! I come on my own will! Please…," Yoko blurted out, her hands gripped tightly on Haruka's long sleeves. "Kan-chan is terribly wounded as a result for falling from a cliff! He is unable to come here by himself. He can hardly walk by himself! So…please…please come back. Or pay him a visit at least," she explained as she told Haruka why did she come instead of the crimson eyed youth.

Haruka's eyes narrowed as soon as Yoko's words sank in. His eyes turned to look at Sugino as if asking for confirmation. Sensing a questioning look given by the black winged tengu, the long haired demon nodded slightly without words. Almost immediately, those gazing eyes turned back to look at his female demon friend. For the first time in his life, he was unable to make a wise decision. Oh, how did it make him seem weak and small. 'Ridiculous,' he mentally cursed.

Kantaro, his master, was terribly hurt due to his fall from a cliff and that explained why he could not come and had not come for him. Maybe he really should go to pay the youth a visit. But the other side of him within himself protested strongly against his first suggestion. Why should he care anyway? He once said if anything happened to Kantaro, his master deserved it. So, what made the difference between now and back then? After all, Kantaro did _break_ his bowl.

"He deserves it," in the end, anger took over the best of him. His long haired friend remained silent and was not surprised at all. On the other hand, Yoko was dumbfounded and shocked. She thought at least Haruka would pay a visit to Kantaro if he learnt that their master was hurt. Normally, when Kantaro was in danger or he was wounded, Haruka would react or at least would try to defend the human. Why this time Haruka remained so unconcerned? It was so unusual of him. Maybe Kantaro's act went too far. Or maybe Haruka did not trust her words a single bit.

Before she could reveal the fact that Kantaro was planning something big behind his little act, Sugino's wings suddenly made its appearance. He jerked his head towards somewhere; a worried expression was shown on his usual calm face. "There is a very strong aura somewhere near here," he stated with a soft voice filled with curiosity and discomfort. "But I can't sense it directly…"

"Me neither." Now that the once-human mentioned it, Yoko the demon fox's sense began to kick in as well. She too could sense a very strong aura coming from somewhere, but it did seem to come from _everywhere._ That was weird. Unless someone put a confusion spell or probably a shield on that spot, demons like them could easily sense the source of the overwhelming aura like that. No human could be able to cast such powerful spell without being known, as far as Sugino and Haruka could remember.

Wait… a certain exorcist might have done that successfully, and that was none other than Ichinomiya Kantaro. As much as he hated to admit the youth's high spiritual power, Sugino must go to check on him, even if his beloved 'wife' was keeping watch. No one could be certain what would have happened. "I afraid someone goes ahead of us. I must go back to find Moo-chan. That nasty guy might have done something to her!" he hastened his steps, actually forgetting the fact that for being a tengu, he had wings and therefore there was no need of him to walk.

"Sugino," finally, after almost like forever, the other tengu decided to open his mouth and called his friend. To Haruka, the aura was kind of familiar. 'Kantaro's aura…isn't it?' he quietly asked in his mind. On the outside, he showed no emotion as he continued his sentence. "Take Yoko with you."

"Wait!" Yoko protested in a jerk. She was just getting into the main point! Why was she interrupted by something just when she wanted to get into the point every time! This is so frustrating even to the normally patience female demon.

Sugino chose to wait for a moment, even though within his patience was growing thin second by second. "No, Yoko," was Haruka's final reply. Sugino could hear the slight annoyance in his voice, as well as asking the demon fox to stop bugging him. Knowing the best demon for so long ago, he knew Haruka, too, had a plan in mind. Choosing to end the endless persuading of Yoko's, Sugino grabbed by her waist and flew off.

"Stay still, Yoko. Onikui will do something, although he doesn't look like it," he reassured the struggling Yoko. On a second thought, the female demon gave up trying to break free because she did not want to end up falling from the sky to the ground. However, a single tear found its way to her chin. She cried silently as guilt welled up within her.

'I failed to persuade Haruka-chan…,' her mind whispered softly. Even though Kantaro himself forbade her to find Haruka, moreover telling him the truth behind the act he pulled earlier, she had ignored a _direct_ order. She had failed to tell Haruka of Kantaro's act and also plan.

Sugino took a glance at the female demon below. Apparently, he saw her tears and let out a soft sigh. If Kantaro did not approve her of doing this, then why would she feel guilty for not completing the task? Was it because she felt helpless? Or was it because she really cared for her master's sake? The feeling must be strong, Sugino concluded. For a demon to ignore a direct order and still continued on with the plan even though the consequences might be threatening.

"Yoko…I am sure Kantaro won't like you to be sad of this. Because he is the one who ordered you not to do so in the first place," the flying tengu said, trying his best to comfort his current companion. Despite the fact he was very worried of his little green demon 'wife', he still could comfort Yoko. But once again, why did he care so much for being the middle-man of all of them? Well, he could continue on like nothing of these happened, but he guessed, he could not watch helplessly. His friend and his own kind were involved. "Onikui has his own beliefs and reasons for his actions. In fact, everyone has. We have done our best for being the middle-man…," he murmured the last words gently.

Yoko nodded in silent. Yes, Sugino was right. For now, she should really learn to think more wisely. Her role did not end up here for she still had to stop Kantaro's plan. Plan A-'persuading Haruka' had failed, but that did not mean Plan B-'stop Kan-chan' was down in the ruin. Wiping away her tears, her brown eyes finally showed firmed determinations. "Thank you, Sugino-sama. Now we should worry about Moo-chan and Kan-chan."

From far away, a stifled scream rang through the thick forest…Only a certain youth with pure crimson orbs knew the reason behind the scream. There were no other humans nor could creatures in the forest stifle a scream like that, except one.

'I am sorry…for this is hurting you as well…But please bear with it for the moment. Soon everything will be back.'

**: To be continued :**

A few notes for this chapter…since I made it quite confusing/mysterious.

1) _'Please oh Gods…come to your child now…For he needs you more than anything…He may be sinful…but he ought to be forgiven…' _

The above refers to Haruka, and not Kantaro literally. Only in the next sentence it refers to Kantaro.

2) If you remember, Kantaro is somewhere near the forest where Haruka, Yoko and Sugino are in. The shield/barrier is set by Kantaro, yes. It only acts as a bait to lure Sugino and Yoko out of the forest, not to serve as a defensive tool. That is why both of the demons could leave the place.

3) The stifled scream comes from no other than Haruka. The reason? Well, you will know it in the next chapter. :P

4) The last sentence/thought is from Kantaro. This sentence is a big hint of what is he trying to pull off. Yet, I would not tell you directly here:laughs: Evil author? Yeah, I am. XD

Replies:

Kazuha: Hehehe, thank you:hugs: I try to get into the climax soon. Hopefully next chapter I would get into it. :sweats: I wanted to make this chapter as the climax, but it seemed like I couldn't…Aww….Anyway, hope you like this chapter, although I think it is a bit boring…:bows:

NaStUkO-ChAn: Yes, I nearly forgot about Moo being there:sweat: In the end, I had to write a scene where Kantaro stops her…even though it sounds mean. XP Yes, Kan-chan's plan is really big… XD Very important, at least to him. I am sorry to update slower…probably next chapter would have to wait for a while…:sweats: Aww…I am happy to know that you like the gift-fiction! You are welcome and thanks for the review!

Khealchan: Lol…He is not trying to suicide…although it really can cost his life…:laughs: I am making people confuse here…Sorry. :bows: Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing!

Yummy Yaoi: Aww…Hopefully their meeting would be on next chapter…but you see…I always seem to drag my story. :bows deeply: Sorry! Oh no…you are not bugging me, you are actually very kind to give me such encouragement to continue. :hugs: Really thanks for your review! I hope you like this chapter, although it sounds boring to me…Sorry ne…

Rubydream: Aha…someone seems to take a good guess on my story plot. XD Well…your guess is close enough. :grins: Although I won't spoil the story further… XD Aww…don't feel sorry for the late review, actually I felt happy and honored:glomps: For you took your precious time to review both of the chapters! Thank you a lot! Aww…I am so happy to hear from you!

Additional replies (for late reviews):

Chapter 6

Jez-arinn: Thanks for reading, Carol-chan:hugs: I am really happy that you like the characters in my story…I like to see Kantaro suffers too:laughs: Evil authors na? XD Yes yes, Moo-chan is still the best:cheers: Ah, okay! I hope you enjoy reading ne:hugs: I am sorry for my Grammar though. :bows:

Rubydream: Aww…I missed you! I was wondering where is the kind and cute Ruby-chan (sorry for the nick I gave you :lol: but I can't help it! It is cute… XD )? I was really leapt with happiness when I saw your reviews:hugs: Hehehe, yeah, I don't want to see Kan-chan dies too. But actually…Yoko is trying her best already…What a pity Haruka decides to play mean in Chapter 7! XP (Haruka: It means YOU author are the one being mean, you know?) Thanks for the review ne!


	9. Lost memories

**Waiting for you**

Rating: PG or K+ (rating will go up in the next chapter for violence and for safety :3 )

Genre: Action/adventure, tragedy, slight suspense

Pairing: None in this chapter, not even Moo and Sugino XP

Warnings or notes: AU (for Haruka's past), spoilers for anime (I picked some scenes from it), grammar or other errors (English is not my mother tongue…), confusions, OOC-ness, aound 1400 words, and Haruka is being a meanie here. :lol: Yeah, finally the meeting between Haruka and Kantaro!

I am sorry for the delay:bows: My laptop was broken after I uploaded the last chapter. It took me quite a time to get it fixed and typed a new chapter. Therefore I hope my readers are not annoyed with my delay. :hands cookies: And hope you all will review:bows: Thanks for reading as well!

Before you start reading, I might as well tell you all that this chapter will answer _most_ of the puzzles. _Most_, but not _all_. For some things would remain mysterious until the next chapters:chuckles: And yeah, it is quite confusing, so I will post a summary at the end of the chapter for you all. :smiles:

Japanese terms:

Kindly refer to the last chapters for the familiar words. I try to minimize the usage of Japanese words here and only use a few in conversations. Please forgive me I was wrong somewhere when using them. :bows:

**: ooo :**

Chapter 9-Lost memories

'Kantaro…are you here?' asked Haruka in his mind while his sharp eyes surveying around the thick forest, hoping to see a familiar figure of the crimson eyed exorcist. Upon seeing no one, he let out a shallow sigh. "If you want me to find you…," he murmured as his black shiny wings appeared behind him in a jerk under his mind control. When he sensed such strong power behind the barrier, he knew it was none other than Kantaro. He also knew the young man planned to drive or shall I say 'lure' both Yoko and Sugino out of the forest. But why? This was the only thing Haruka did not know, yet he _wished _to know.

That was one of the reasons why he chose to stay behind and asked his white winged friend to take Yoko away. If Kantaro did this on purpose, that could only mean one thing. His master wished to settle things with him _alone_, with no interruptions. And so he obliged. Yoko said Kantaro was deeply injured; therefore he should not have been able to come this far if that was true. Haruka was curious; was Yoko telling the true or was Kantaro playing another act again to trick the female demon as well?

Just before he set off to break the barrier, he felt a strong electric shock all over his body. It was strong enough to kill an ordinary human and enough to make him scream. However, being typical as he was, he tried his best not to do so. In the end, he let out a stifled scream. As long as he could feel the pain, his mind was filled with flying images. They were playing in his mind like a video clip in a swift way.

** A familiar figure was standing in front of him, chanting something he could not hear properly. He could not move for he was paralyzed. When he finally saw two pieces of rock were blocking his view, his eyes glowed dangerously at the person. "You…" **

** "I swear, one day I would seek revenge," he heard his own voice saying those words with full of hatred. **

'That is…'

** "I will seal you demon under the name of Minamoto clan!" A serious fight ensued between his old self and an unknown man, whom he thought was familiar. **

** A pair of hands was full of fresh red blood. They were dripping from those sharp nails that looked almost like an animal's claws. **

** "Onikui tengu! Run!" **

'My memories…?'

** A long haired youth with white wings smiled softly at him. "Onikui, want to have a drink?" invited the demon with a little green creature sitting on his shoulder and a bottle of wine in his right hand. **

'Sugino…? Urgh…it hurts…'

** Pairs of frightened eyes were begging for sympathy. "Please, spare my live! You and I are brothers! We are demons as well!" **

** "Humans and demons are never partners. Leave before I kill you, human," he said, glaring at a long haired man. **

** "I hate myself for being a human…therefore I chose to become a tengu instead…," someone's voice rang behind him. **

'My head hurts…my body hurts…Those memories…those forgotten memories…What is happening?' his hands held his head as he fell on his knees. 'They are coming back…' As those memories filled his mind once more, his eyes became crimson in color. It glowed dangerously and viciously. He was becoming more like the vicious and emotionless Onikui, and less Haruka, the softer and cool other side of his.

After all those flying images stopped, his face was changed. His aura was stronger; it felt like a devil's instead of the normal Haruka. His sharp fangs were lusting for blood. His razor-like claws were itching for tearing flesh. Shortly, Haruka was no longer in command of his current body and mind. Onikui Tengu, the strongest demon of all, was back into the world once again. He was reborn into this world again. Would chaos ensue then with his rebirth?

"Ichinomiya Kantaro…," was his last words before his wings flapped off towards somewhere.

Meanwhile, in an isolated temple, a young exorcist finally accomplished the complicated spell. By the time he had finished chanting, he was drained and exhausted. A few drops of sweats dripped onto the ground as his knees finally gave in. He felt sorry for his male slave when he heard the stifled scream. Yet, what he was trying to do was for_ his_ sake. So, he continued on, even though his heart felt heavy. Even though he knew he was in danger, even though he had to pay an extremely high price. It was all fine to him, because it was for _him_.

"Haruka…," he tried to stand, but without leaning on the wall for support, he could not make it. He grabbed the dirty old bowl, which it was placed on the altar. Then he leaned on the nearest wall for support to stand. After a few steps, Kantaro felt that he could walk on his own. However, he continued to lean on the wall for support until he reached the door. From there, he had to depend on his own.

'This is all I could do for you…,' his mind said as he gritted his teeth to gain some strength not to give up. By then, he could feel some pain were back to him once again. Apparently the spell he had cast earlier was beginning to wear off. The barrier he had set up to lure both his female demon fox Yoko and the once human Sugino was gone too. Seemed like the spell he cast on Moo would have worn off as well. He knew, once it was done, chaos might happen to him. Yet, ironic enough, the young exorcist with red eyes smirked. His mission was accomplished.

Before he could go any further, he sensed a very strong threatening aura. At once he knew who was coming for him. It was Haruka…no, it was the once sealed strongest demon of all that everyone was afraid of, the Soul Eater tengu. The exhausted youth was not afraid, for he planned to find his ex-slave as well. Only that, now his ex-slave found him.

"Ichinomiya Kantaro…," once the tengu landed, he glared at Kantaro threateningly. Trying his best to show no weakness, Kantaro smirked slyly.

"So, you are here, Haruka…"

"I am not Haruka anymore. I refuse to be your servant…your slave anymore. I am on my own from the past till now," was the reply.

Kantaro gave him his trademark innocent look. "Oh?" In his mind, he was feeling glad that the tengu did not manage to see through him. But on a second thought, would the current Haruka spare him if he knew his serious injuries?

"I once said; if I regain my memories, I might kill you. And you accepted that. Your ancestor sealed me, and I swore I would seek revenge. This time, this day, my revenge shall be fulfilled," the black winged tengu's eyes glowed dangerously. He showed his sharp claws at Kantaro as a sign of declaration. "And I see you are very fine to me. Unlike what Yoko told me earlier," he added bluntly. In his mind, he thought Kantaro even tricked the innocent Yoko in order to make her volunteer to persuade him to go back. Apparently, his ex-master did not leave quite a nice impression to him.

Kantaro's eyes softened for a moment before he pulled out a paper spell from somewhere under his sleeve. "I see. For a long time, I wished to fight the strongest demon of all to have a test on my own power as well," he said, trying hard to act calm. Sweats were dripping on his clothes, yet he ignored it. "Yoko? Well, we shall not talk about that as for now." It was not necessary to let Haruka knew of his injuries. In fact, he did not wish to reveal it at all.

Both of them exchanged looks with hidden desires and meanings as they raised their own deadly weapons for the upcoming fight. Kantaro with his only trusted ofuda-s, and Haruka with his claws. Who would the God of victory side with? The young injured exorcist, or the strongest demon of all?

**: To be continued :**

Okay, I promised a summary. This chapter takes place between the time Sugino and Yoko's departure and when Kantaro hears Haruka's scream in the last chapter. I just elaborated on what happened to Haruka after his companions leave him. At the same time, Kantaro sets a ritual to unseal Haruka's origin power (that also means he is freeing him from the servitude like a reviewer's guess).

Images that fill Haruka's head are the ones he has lost when Kantaro reseals him with his current name (**Bold** is used for Haruka's memories). Thus, after he regains all his lost memories and power, he changes back to the vicious Onikui Tengu and means to get his revenge. You must be wondering why Kantaro's parents disapprove him of having an onmyoji's abilities and deserts him when it was their ancestor that sealed Onikui Tengu. Well, I will leave that first for now. XD

Maybe you wanted to ask why Kantaro does not tell Haruka of his serious injuries. Actually, in my opinion, Kantaro is like a puzzle and he is always planning something. But I kind of like his attitude so I try my best to make him mysterious as well as manipulative. :P There won't be any thrilling events if Kantaro reveals the secret! XD Also, the current Haruka surely do not care if he is hurt or not (by judging how he hates the Ichinomiya-s). Anyway, see you in the next chapter!

Replies:

NaStUkO-ChAn: Aww…I am sorry for the cliff hanger (again):hides: I am evil ne… :sly smile: but please don't kill me:runs away: Lol. Hmm…actually I already revealed Kantaro's actions in this chapter. I hope you like it na, although it was different from your guess…I am really sorry for the late update as well:bows deeply: Please don't be annoyed ne? And thanks for the review!

Yummy Yaoi: Thanks for the review:hugs: I am happy to know that you like this story…My first Tactics fic! XD Hope you like this chapter!

Rubydream: Hehehe, thanks a lot for such kindness:glomps: And I would like to apologize for the delay… :hides: Stupid laptop…Ah, anyway, hope you like this chapter!

Kazuha: Thanks for the review and the visit to my blog:hugs: I am sorry for the boredom of the last chapter. Hopefully this chapter would cover it up? XD Hope you enjoy this chapter then:smiles:

Chakura: Wow! It was great for you already figured out what Kantaro was trying to do:cheers: I feel sorry for Haruka in this fic of mine, because it makes him look bad! XD (Haruka: You ruin my reputation, evil author!) :laughs: And thanks for the review!

Jewelclaw Lady of Wind: Hm…hehe. Bingo, your guess is correct:cheers: I am happy that someone knew what I am planning. :grins: Even though I also like when readers are in suspense… X3 Thanks for the encouragement as well:hands cookies: And sorry for the delay!


	10. Torments

**Waiting for you**

Disclaimer: (Kantaro: How could you forget to put the disclaimer for the last chapter?) (Rei-chan: I am so sorry!) (Haruka: Tactics does not belong to this little evil author, so put it in mind for that. And she ruins my reputation!)

Rating: PG-13 or T (for violence and for safety)

Genre: Action/adventure, tragedy, suspense, slightly AU

Pairing: None in this chapter as well

Warnings or notes: AU (for both Haruka and Kantaro's pasts), grammar or other errors (English is not my mother tongue…), might be confusions, OOC-ness, around 1300 words.

Okay okay, I know most of the readers would chase after me and get me killed for making Haruka this bad. But…actually, he is not really 'Haruka' anymore. Physically, of course he is the same handsome Haruka we all know, but mentally, he is occupied by his own 'old self', yeah you get what I mean. That is what makes him so violent and merciless towards Kantaro.

I am sorry for I left the disclaimer in the last chapter:sweats: And I left a Japanese translation…I will add it into the Japanese terms in this chapter. Hope you would forgive my carelessness:timid tone: I seemed to make a lot of mistakes…Urgh…Anyway, I will add a few points to clear off some possible confusions…:sweats: Hope you all will like this chapter!

Japanese terms:

(in Chapter 9) _ofuda_ - paper spells

Kindly refer to the previous chapters for other words okay...:bows:

**: ooo :**

Chapter 10-Torments

Soon enough, an unavoidable battle took place as Haruka tried to attack his ex-master in a swift and deadly movement. Kantaro's condition was very bad, for his previous wounds slowed him down. Not to mention he was only a normal human now, after the ritual. In order to regain those memories and to return Haruka's original power back to him, he had to sacrifice his own spiritual power, which to Kantaro, it was also part of his life. That was the price he had to pay. He was no longer qualified as an exorcist. He was only a weakling, an injured human with no power to defend himself.

All the time, he merely managed to dodge all the attacks. There were times he was nearly hit directly by Haruka's attacks if there were no trees blocking them for him. The young man knew very well that any second could have been his death. But, his stubbornness refused to give in. He wanted to find the answer to his question for such long time ago. That day was the only chance he could have had his curiosity satisfied.

While attacking Kantaro, Haruka observed him and finally decided to ask him. "Ichinomiya Kantaro, what are you hesitating for?" Haruka's voice was demanding. Of course, he wished to kill his ex-master in an attack, but that would not satisfy him. The revenge he had wanted for how long…could not be satisfied with a single fatal attack.

Trying to dodge another attack, Kantaro replied. "Ha…," Kantaro stopped himself from calling his ex-slave the given name, since he was back to his own self, no longer the cool yet protective Haruka he once knew. 'It's because I have nothing to put up a fight with you now…Haruka…,' Kantaro thought bitterly. Yet, going against the odds, he decided to counter-attack the demon with the same question. "Onikui Tengu, then why are you?" His crimson eyes looked deep into Haruka's pair of equally red orbs as if searching through his mind.

The simple question hit Haruka's nerves and he strike harder plus faster than usual with his sharp claws. Unable to avoid the swift fatal attack, Haruka's claws met with Kantaro's chest and left a several deep cut on his flesh. The human was attacked once again with a strong gust of winds, sending him flying across the air and his back met with a hard tree. Then he landed on his bottom. It was a lucky thing for Kantaro due to the remained effect of his previous spell that helped him to disable his pain system. Otherwise, he would be screaming or maybe wailing.

Probably, it was not a thing to be proud or grateful of since the spell itself was like a double-edged sword; there would be advantage and disadvantage as well. Such damage he received would surely alarm him of his limits if he had not been protect by the spell. Nevertheless, Kantaro was aware of it. He knew once the spell was worn off, surely he would be in Hell.

"Is this all you have, Ichinomiya Kantaro?" asked the nonchalant Haruka while he was advancing towards his prey. Sensing his closing range, Kantaro's left hand went immediately to cover his chest on order to hide his bandages under the torn layers of his clothes. Unknown to Haruka, the black-winged tengu thought he tried to stop the bleeding instead of hiding something else.

"I…," before the young man replied, a deep pain hit him hard on the chest. Finally, the effect was gone. Once it was gone, Kantaro could finally feel the damage on his own body. He wanted to scream or cry in agony, yet his mind halted him as he only lowered his head, allowing his long bangs to cover his betraying red orbs. His left hand gripped on the clothes near his chest tightly. His head was killing him, his right arm felt like being torn off, his back was like hit by a thousand of needles…Shortly, his whole body felt like on fire. The pain was so unbearable…

His mind could not even register Haruka was indeed a few steps in front of him at that moment. Big drops of sweats were formed on his body, making him looked like he just had his bath. Everything was so slow, so painful, so torturing. He wished he could moan, or scream, or do anything to make his pain go away. Yet, he could not. His voice betrayed him. He could only grip on his clothes for a little comfort to wash away the burning pain.

"I…guess I am not good enough…," he paused to take deep breathes. "…to fight you," he completed the sentence somewhat hardly. Despite the overwhelming pain, he tried to handle a small smile. "The strongest demon indeed," the silver haired youth flattered weakly.

Amazingly to Kantaro, the tengu answered nothing. He was looking, observing the weak and fragile human in front him, the one he wanted to kill on instinct. And his anger towards Kantaro's family overwhelmed his softer self as he was blind to Kantaro's weak condition. Normally he would have known it by sensing how weak Kantaro's spiritual power appeared to be. However, now his sense for that was gone. Only anger existed, and only hatred ruled.

"Pray to God for one last time, Ichinomiya Kantaro," the demon said bluntly. His words and tone were like venom to anyone else's ears. Contrary, it sounded perfectly fine to the poor young man. He accepted his fate like any man would. In fact, he was aware of his fate long time ago. Before he went to search for the spell, and before he started the ritual. Even before he released him and liberated him 'Haruka'. He knew, sooner or later, this would happen. Time was the only thing it mattered.

With a little movement of his fingers, his wand-like weapon appeared out of nowhere and the body rested on his right palm. "Regret?" asked Haruka, although it sounded more like a statement more than a question.

Smiling somewhat awkwardly, Kantaro's crimson eyes looked again into Haruka's. "Before I answer your question, I want you to reply mine first." Haruka remained silent. Upon seeing this, Kantaro opened his mouth to voice his question. "Haruka," he felt like calling his ex-slave the given name he gave suddenly. "Are you…feeling happy now?"

The black winged demon was mild bewildered by such question. Of all things he had to ask…Kantaro was still concern of him at this time? Nevertheless, being typical as he always did, he replied coolly, "Needless to say, I am."

: Flashbacks :

"Haruka, are you happy?"

"Why should I?"

"…You are not happy?"

"……"

"Because you lost your memories?"

"…Maybe."

"…I see…"

'Then…I, the one who took away your happiness, shall return it…'

: End of flashbacks :

When those words rang through Kantaro's ears, his soft smile went broader. "I see…," his breathes were shorter and it went rapidly. 'If you are happy…I am too…Haruka.' It seemed like a heavy burden was lifted from his small shoulders upon hearing the half-expected reply. Everything he had done was worth it. It was worth to make his slave…his _ex-slave_ happy again.

Another pain snatched away his attention. His bleeding did not stop and it seemed like his other wounds were reopened, because they were bleeding as well. Every air he took was burning his lungs, yet he chose to ignore it. Unconsciously, a few drops of salty liquid rolled down from his glowing eyes. Still smiling ever gently at his ex-slave, he said, "I am glad…to know this…Thank you…"

He was feeling glad to leave the pain. He was feeling grateful to hear his ex-slave was content with the effort he had given despite his own health and life. He was joyful to know his plan did not go into waste. Oblivious to Haruka, he did not know nor understand of his ex-master's effort. He even raised his weapon as a sign to strike its opponent…

God of victory seemed to side with the vicious tengu this time. And yet, would God of mercy pull poor Kantaro's hands out of the living Hell and save him from his torments?

**: To be continued :**

Haruka (or you can say it is Onikui Tengu currently) calls Kantaro by his full name now, if you ever notice. Why? Well, because of the hatred buried deep down within him towards Ichinomiya-s. When Kantaro asks Haruka 'Are you happy now?' refers to the return of his origin power plus his lost memories, as well as his freedom. The flashbacks are of once Kantaro asks Haruka the same question, and the answer is actually a 'no' although the demon keeps silent. Yeah, Kantaro tries to see Haruka as the famous Onikui Tengu, yet he fails because in the end, he couldn't resist to call him 'Haruka'.

I just want to ask something: **What do you think of this chapter?** If it is touching…I would be glad since I meant to make it that way! Someone else feels it is boring or it is lame:bows: Sorry if you think this is not good enough ne!

Replies:

Karushna5: Aww…I know I am evil to stop every chapters as cliffhangers…:hides: Please don't kill me! XD (Haruka clone: Oww! What for you hit me? It's the stupid author's fault that she makes me this cruel!) (Rei-chan: You better zip your mouth if you want your body in a whole…) Aww…thanks for the review ne:hands cookies:

Ruby-dream: I guess I like to play with the characters…:chuckles: Well, actually Kantaro is just being Kantaro. Like in the anime, Kantaro even asks Haruka to kill him, right? This is actually in the same situation as that one, though I change it of course. :grins: Aww, you are so kind:hugs: Thanks for forgiving me ne. But I hope you won't kill me for writing another cliffhanger…:sweats: About Haruka's past…I just kinda put in…like fill in the blanks. :lol: By judging how well Sugino and Haruka's friendship to be in the anime/manga, I guess Haruka spent his time a lot with him in the past, so I make it that way. :laughs: Hope you like it that way!

Silverkaze013: Thanks for the supporting review as well as story fave and author fave:bows: I hope you like it this chapter then!

Kiokie-princess-of-pain: This story made you cried? Aww…:pats pats and hands hanky: Thanks for the review, the story fave and author fave! I am honored! Hope you enjoy this chapter:bows: And I hope you feel touched by this chapter…:lol: because it is meant to be…:sweats:

Yummy Yaoi: Hehe, thanks a lot for the review! I will try my best to upload the next chapter as soon as possible (unless my laptop wants to die on me again… :sighs: )

Goku-chan: Aww, yes, the anime/manga is really nice! XD I like the anime style more though... XP Thanks for the kind review! Hope you don't mind spoilers ne?


	11. The power of guilt

**Waiting for you**

Disclaimer: I would be happy to own this anime/manga, but I only own the evil story-line for this fanfiction.

Rating: PG-13 or T (for violence and for safety)

Genre: Action/adventure, tragedy, suspense, slightly AU

Pairing: Mild Sugino x Moo (if you think them as a couple :P )

Warnings or notes: Meanie Haruka, possible mild confusions, self-conflicts within the characters, grammar or other errors (English is not my mother tongue…), OOC-ness, around 1300 words.

First of all, I would like to say thanks for those who added this story to their list of favorite stories as well as story alerts! Not to mention thanks a million for those who added me into their list of author alert and favorite authors. :bows deeply: I am honored. Also, thanks to who support me and continue reading as well as reviewing my story even though it gets boring at time. :sweats:

Without your supports, I might have given up already. Thus, this chapter is dedicated to all the kind readers and friends!

Japanese terms:

Kindly refer to the previous chapters. Thanks.

**: ooo :**

Chapter 11-The power of guilt

Time went slowly as the merciless tengu raised his weapon towards the youth with silver hair. His aura was so suffocating. It was full of the urge to kill the human in front of him that he could not resist any longer. Finally…after for how long…he managed to have his revenge. His weapon was in the mid-air now and ready to strike its prey anytime.

Amazingly enough to the tengu, the human did not even shut his eyes in neither fear nor showing any signs of such. Instead, his crimson orbs were looking straight at him, as if daring him to deliver the attack, despite the fact he was in a half-conscious state.. Ichinomiya Kantaro was really something, Haruka mussed. He was so unlike the others that would probably be wailing for rescue and such by now. It was a respectable act indeed.

'Nevertheless, it won't stop me from killing you,' Haruka thought as he flung his weapon as hard as he could.

It was then something distracted him. Before he could finish his fatal attack, something went flying towards him. With his fast reflex, his free left hand quickly snatched the 'weapon' in a second. It appeared to be a very old book with a few torn pages, which it brought surprise to the berserk tengu.

"Kan-chan!" Yoko's hysterical scream echoed through the entire forest. Followed by something else sounded suspiciously like a 'moo'… Both Yoko and Moo were running towards Haruka and Kantaro with alarmed looks on their faces.

Behind the female demon and his beloved 'wife', Sugino made his appearance visible slowly by walking in a steady pace towards his long-known friend. Apparently, the 'attack' was sent by the white-winged tengu to halt his friend's attack, perhaps to stop him from making a mistake that he might regret later.

"Onikui, you should know what it is…," the long-haired demon stated simply, his eyes looking at the direction of the old book in Haruka's hand.

'That…That…,' in his half-conscious mind, Kantaro still managed to recognize the book. Despite the pain and Yoko's fuss around him, his mind was totally aware of its surrounding.

Two pairs of watchful eyes eyed carefully at Haruka's attempt to open the book and read the lines written in it. Luckily to Sugino, Haruka seemed to have more control on his actions than the long haired tengu thought he would. At least, Haruka would stop and look at the book instead of attacking all of them for meddling into his business. 'It seems like Onikui really did change a lot…,' Sugino thought. In the past, the Soul Eater tengu would clear off everyone that was bold enough trying to block his way.

"It is the forbidden spells, Onikui," Sugino said after a few moments, as though the tengu did not understand them. Haruka growled slightly in annoyance. He was disturbed at the thought of forbidden spells, although he had no idea why. "In order to return you to your original state, that guy went all the way to search this book and at last performed the forbidden ritual. Frankly, I am happy for you, Onikui. But I can't help feeling guilty for being unable to stop Kantaro," the once human admitted shamelessly.

For the first time, Sugino acknowledged Kantaro's brave deeds his kindness towards his slaves, even though he did cast a spell on Moo. Sugino had always hated humans, and he hated himself for being one in the past. Humans were selfish, insignificant, greedy, and full of jealousy and all things of humans could make him feel disgusted. But, only him…only Kantaro was beyond those, beyond everyone. He was very different from the others. Even the so-called God had to admit that he strongly respected the youth's will. Perhaps, that was why Moo was gravitated to the youth.

"He sacrificed himself to help you. He did not break your bowl. He is dying now, Onikui!" unable to control his feelings any longer, Sugino outburst. Within, he was feeling very guilty and angry towards himself. He had blamed everything on Kantaro in the first place without knowing the truth, thinking the human mistreated his friend. Thus, now he was taking out the anger towards Haruka instead. Speaking of which, it made Sugino realized, he was more human than he thought, which he hated being reminded of.

Snapped out of his thoughts, Haruka looked up and into Sugino's angry eyes. His friend's words began to absorb into his mind one by one. And his mind refused to take them at first. It was too much of shock, too much of details. The book, which it laid on his hands, was indeed one of the forbidden spells. Every single spells written required something in exchange, if anyone wanted to learn them or use them. The price Kantaro has paid was great, far too 'expensive'.

Upon hearing no response, Sugino walked towards where Kantaro was. Yoko was crying again, while trying to stop the bleeding but all her attempts failed miserably. Moo, on the other hand, was trying to help as much as she could handle. By the time he saw Kantaro's state, Sugino ceased his eyebrows. The human was still fighting against his condition, it seemed.

Chokingly, Kantaro managed to mutter something. "Haruka…," he found himself swaying forth and back. "I…do…not…re…gret…," was his last words as he finally gave in and stumbled forward. Surprisingly, Sugino was the one who merely fast enough to catch a hold of him before his body met with the ground. The sudden impact sent Sugino lost his balance and fell onto the ground with Kantaro's body on top of him.

"Oii!" there was nothing more the tengu could say at the moment. Apparently the human did not lose his conscious yet. His eyelids were heavy and half-closed. His red eyes were hazy and unfocused. The blood even stained Sugino's white clothes, making them bright red. Yoko's frightened tears dripped on Kantaro's stained clothes while her hands rested on her master's shoulders.

Shaking with anger, Sugino sneaked his left arm under the injured youth's neck, while the other went under his legs and stood up without much difficulty. He decided to save the half-conscious human, despite how he hated humans in the first place. If Haruka was not going to, then he would. Moo jumped onto her 'husband's' head and decided to stay there until they reach the destination. Yoko took a glance at Haruka, and found out that the tengu was speechless and stunned.

To Haruka, everything seemed to be in slow motion. He just watched the whole event like watching a film, a very cruel and merciless film. Deep within himself, he felt very guilty. But why? Why should he feel so when he did the right thing to get his revenge? Then why…why was he feeling hesitant now? It seemed like the guiltiness was what stopping him now, and it also pushed Sugino to take actions. Oh, how could they defy the power of guilt?

"Haruka-chan…," she called softly and undeterminably. Would the vicious tengu turn back into the protective and calm tengu she once knew and fond of?

"Yoko, cling on my back," ordered Sugino in a brotherly way. Normally, he would be complaining how hard it was for him to carry two at once, but now he did not mind it. Now, if Haruka decided to go wild and stop him by getting into his way, he would have to raise his own weapon against his friend, if he must. He always wanted to return the black-winged tengu's memories to him, but not like this. Unmistakably, he was the Onikui Tengu he knew long ago, but the white-winged demon admitted, he had grown to like the more gentle 'Haruka'.

The female demon fox obliged without much words as she warped her arms around Sugino's neck. The God was going to set off, if not a hand was rested on his shoulder. Needless to say, it was Haruka's. But what was his intention at that time? Was it to prevent them for leaving or to apologize for his mistakes?

**: To be****continued :**

Replies (oh my God, this is the first time I received so much reviews! I am so happy... :bows: Thanks!)

White Sherry: I won't kill him ne, don't worry! I promised that I won't, so I keep my words. XD But I kinda enjoy tormenting him. :lol: Thanks for the review:hugs: I am glad you like my first Tactics fic! XD

Black Angel Of Destruction: Hehe, sorry ne, I seem to like stopping at cliffhangers. XD Hope you are satisfied with this chapter:lol: Thanks for the review!

Miyu: I will try to update soon ne? X3 Thanks for the review! It has been a while since I saw your last review. But I am happy that you reviewed this time:hugs:

Kiokie-princess-of-pain: Aww, you are so kind. Thanks for the compliment, support and nice review! Oh, I don't mind your spelling, because my English is not that good anyway. XP Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Yummy Yaoi: Hahaha, last time I was so depressed because I could not write chapter 9 due to my laptop's broken status! Now that it comes back, I hope it won't die on me again too. I hope you find this chapter worth your time ne! Thanks for the review also:hugs:

NaStUkO-ChAn: Yes, yes, it won't be suspense if I make it that way. XD I love suspense. Ah, thanks a million for the review ne! The Gods are thrown in to make it more dramatic I guess… XP Well, about Haruka, I will reveal it in the next chapter:3 Hai, I hope to hear from you soon too:grins:

Rubydream: (Haruka: I am so gonna kill you, you little devil!) Yikes….:hides under than table: Ruby-chan becomes Reiko-chan:lol: Okay, thanks for the understanding! Haha, you don't have to apologize for being yourself. XD I know people will chase me for making Haruka this bad. :lol: Thanks for the kind review, dear:glomps:

Lost Flame: I am honored by your comment. :bows: Thanks a lot for such review! Hope you enjoy reading this chapter as well!

Goku-chan: Hehe, I think maybe you won't find it that interesting if you finish the anime/manga…:sweats: But I try to make it as interesting as I could…Thanks for the time, dear! Hope you like Tactics more than you are now. XD

Khealchan: My, thank you for the review! I will try my best to write faster ne? XD

Silverkaze013: Haha…:lol: I guess I am. :chuckles: Once again thanks for your review! I am glad that you find it interesting!

Infinity Ryen: Aww...Sometimes I feel like that when reading a fanfiction. Too observed... XD And nope, you are not crazy at all:smiles: Thanks for the review!

Kaede Yuki: First of all, thanks for spending your precious time to read and review my little story! X3 I am honored. I like to keep readers in suspense, since this is one of the ways that make them want to read more ne? XD Aww...thanks again for the compliment. :bows: I do hope my story attracts people to continue reading. And I will try my best to update as soon as I can ne:grins:


	12. A foe or a friend?

**Waiting for you**

Disclaimer: Usual disclaimer attached.

Rating: PG or K+

Genre: Tragedy, action/adventure, angst

Pairing: Sugino and Moo

Warnings or notes: AU for Yoko's minor part of her past, OOC-ness, grammar or other errors, conflicts of emotions, mainly angst, around 1500+ words.

SORRY for the late update! I was having a bit problem with my laptop…and sorry for the boredom in this chapter…

Before I forget, there is no Sugino x Kantaro, or Haruka x Kantaro. Some of you might see it that way, but in this chapter (and perhaps in this entire story), there will be no shonen-ai. Sorry for shonen-ai fans, but well, romance is not even in this story.

Edited: I noticed some mistakes so I made an edit for them. I am truly sorry for my poor writing skill…:sighs:

Japanese terms:

Kindly refer to the past chapters, thanks!

**: ooo:**

Chapter 12-A foe or a friend?

Yoko's weak call did not reach the black tengu's ears as expected. His eyes were settled on Kantaro's small body in his friend's arms. Now only he realized what Yoko informed him earlier was true. His ex-master was really in such a weak and seriously wounded condition, even before they fought, or rather, before the demon took Kantaro's advantage to hurt him without knowing the truth. The more he observed, the more he felt the weight on his heart. He was torn between getting his revenge and the guilt for hurting his ex-master. Unconsciously, he clenched his fists and released them several times.

Ichinomiya Kantaro was the one who released him, and re-sealed him with his new name; Haruka. At least, even with the new seal, he was able to roam around this world again after a long sleep. The youth was always concerned of him, and did not request for his help if he knew it would endanger his slave. Even if Kantaro was being manipulative at times, it was because he planned something for his slaves and did not want them to worry over him. When his slaves were in danger, Kantaro would ignore his own safety and put the both of them in his top priority list.

He…He was always like a maze to Haruka. Maybe it was the cause why Haruka was feeling hesitant now. The silver-haired youth was his supposed enemy, yet he could not deny the fact the youth was far from being one. Kantaro was indeed manipulative, yet he was also sincere at most of the times. He put an act just to drive the charming tengu away in order to perform the forbidden ritual to restore his old memories with the exchange of his spiritual power, despite the serious injuries and risks he had to take.

Just what kind of human he was? Was he a stupid and brainless human that had no sense of rational? He might be childish, but no, he was far being stupid and brainless, by judging how he planned things that well. Was he a bad master? He might be, at times, for pushing Yoko to do his part of novelist job. But he took good care of both of his slaves. At least, he would not ever consider putting them into danger. Then, was he a selfish and filthy human? Yes, he was selfish for putting up a big lie to cover his true motive. Yet he was being undeniably selfless since he had done that for Haruka's sake, although he was seeking death by doing so.

The look on the human's face was so unforgettable and so purely sincere, came to think of it, Haruka thought. Kantaro's weak smile was meant for him, full of forgiveness and pure happiness, even though he was dying. He even thanked him! Oh, why could he not see all those details earlier? Had he been distracted by his own anger that his visions were blinded? Why he had not sense Kantaro's weak spiritual power? Why he had not seen that Kantaro was willing to die just like that? Most of all, why should he cry over spilt milk?

Fine, he had done enough thinking, the Soul Eater tengu mussed. Finally, he decided that his ex-master was like a big puzzle that looked familiar, yet you never know the right piece without looking carefully and trying to put the pieces together. In other words, Kantaro was just being himself, a mysterious human being that liked to corrupt someone's mind, especially his mind.

It was then the strong aura disappeared. The urge to kill the human died. His red orbs were returning to normal state. The look on his face softened as he stretched his hand and reached for Sugino's shoulder. And the look on Sugino's face was very, very serious. Obviously, his friend mistook his intentions at the moment. But, who else would not after such terrible thing he had committed?

"Even if you are my friend, I won't back off," there was a warning tone when Sugino spoke that it sent chills through Yoko's body with such simple sentence. It was his threatening tone that held such effect. For the female demon fox, she had yet to see such strong emotion radiated by the so-called God before since she had known him only for a short period to know his true face behind his mask. Being so close to him at that moment, she was taken aback by such invisible yet overwhelming force.

As expected, the demon he warned at spoke nothing and remained silent. His emotions were unreadable as his long bangs hid half of his face. Haruka knew, Sugino despised being reminded for being more humane than he thought. Yet now he was showing him how humane he was capable being of, after being a tengu for quite a time. This was only one of the few times the once human would do that, and that was always when he was really serious and determined to do something, or when the guiltiness got into his nerves. The atmosphere was very tensing to all of them, even Moo could only stay silent, which it was so unlike her.

Deciding that actions might be better than words for now, Haruka's left hand, which it was on Sugino's shoulder, moved to sneak under Kantaro's neck. After making his weapon vanished into the air with a simple command by his left hand, it went to sneak under the human's legs, just like what Sugino did earlier. Three pairs of eyes, no…make it four since Sugino said we could not exclude his 'wife'; Moo, stared at him in mild bewilderment. Sugino spoke of nothing, although his mouth was slightly parted in surprise while his 'wife' remained the same; stared and blinked several times in surprise.

"Haruka-chan!" Yoko almost squealed in delight if not they were in a serious situation. She was somewhat joyful and relieved since the soft gentle Haruka was back again. Yet, she was more worried of her master's condition for now.

Kantaro, on the other hand, could not seem to comprehend the whole situation or his surroundings fully. He was losing his conscious little by little as time went by. Nevertheless, he could feel Haruka's strong arms lifting him up, and Sugino gracefully passed him to the other tengu. The God did not even bother to ask what changed the black tengu's mind. As long as the charming black-haired tengu tried to atone what he had done, it was enough.

The childish-looking human had not expected things to turn out this way. He never thought Sugino, who strongly disliked him in any ways and wanted to restore Haruka's old memories as much as he had shown to Kantaro, would actually stand on his side and actually saved him from the black tengu. Moreover he had never expected 'Haruka' to be back and regretted over something he did. The proud tengu never liked to feel regret over something, let alone showing it openly like he did currently.

Nevertheless, Kantaro felt some joy washed over his body, even though the pain quickly took over the place after a few seconds. Now, he was in Haruka's arms and the tengu set off the ground without a word, right after Sugino passed over the human to him. Cold winds passed through them as the tengu flapped his black shiny wings to accurate a faster fly.

Close behind them, were Sugino with his green little 'wife' in his arms and Yoko on his back. No words were needed among them now. They just knew what to do and where should they go. The closest and most convenient place to tend Kantaro's injuries was Sakuya's house. She should be able to find a doctor by now, both Yoko and Sugino thought.

Suddenly a thought struck them, Haruka might not know of Sakuya's existence, let alone her place. Thus, Sugino quickly took the lead and Haruka picked up the hint brilliantly. He followed Sugino without a word and without a doubt. Kantaro was dying, Haruka mussed worriedly. And it was his fault. 'Damn it…,' he took a glance at the human in his arms. Kantaro was looking very pale and very pained. Time was running short.

Thunder strike randomly at some trees below them. Yoko looked above; the sky was dark and it looked like rain would come soon. So, the sky decided to shed its tears for Kantaro too? Thinking of that made Yoko scared, afraid of losing her master. Kantaro was the only place she could cling on. When she was abused by some humans and injured in her fox form, Kantaro was the one who saved her. Ever since, she vowed to stay by his side. And she wished to remain that way, even if Kantaro freed her from the servitude.

At that moment, everyone was worried of the young human's safety. Just how long could the human stand? 'Please…hang on…You don't deserve to die just yet…'

Three demons that were abused by humans, yet they were saved by a single human being. Haruka, was released from what seemed like an eternal sleep, Yoko, was saved from cruelty, and Sugino, was able to trust humans again. It was all thanked to one human by the name of Ichinomiya Kantaro. Just how far his merciless fate decided to haunt the poor human with such a kind heart?

**: To be continued : **

Please tell me what do you think after reading (and you are welcome to ask questions!) Thanks!

Replies:

Kioke-princess-of-pain: Thanks again and again for the kind review. :hugs: I guess you can actually write a story if you want. Nothing is impossible right? Surely you can write better than me and I hope to read it if you ever write a story:bows: Hope you like this chapter, although I think it might be boring. :sweats:

Yummy Yaoi: Hehe, I sincerely wish that you won't feel disappointed by this chapter. It seems boring to me…Sorry for that and the delay too:bows: And yeah, thanks for the review! I am honored.

NaStUkO-ChAn: I was on my edge to hit my laptop because of it I was not able to update this chapter sooner:sighs: Why does it always have to be like that when I am in the middle of a story:sobs: By the way, thanks a lot for the review:glomps: I guess this might bored you…but hope you bear with it lol…

Ruby-dream: Ah…I am such mean author ne? XP Thanks again for the review. This chapter did answer your question, although it is a bit angst and boring…Sorry for that ne…

Silverkaze013: I am honored to have your review. :bows: Thanks for that, first of all. And secondly, I am so sorry! Sorry for the late update and sorry for the boredom in this chapter...

Yuki: Nice nick you got here. X3 It reminds me of someone from Gravitation and Fruit Basket. :lol: By the way, thanks for the review! I am glad that you like my fic. :bows:

Jonquina: I like to write angst stuffs at time, and LOVE self-sacrifice. :chuckles: Hope this chapter satisfies you then, although it might be boring…:sweats:

Kazuha: Aww…it is okay that you were not able to read my fic before. I am glad that you keep track of it and continue to support me. I am more than grateful:bows: Aww…it is too bad I don't make them 'together' in a romantic way (in this story). :lol:


	13. Unforgivable

**Waiting for you**

Disclaimer: (Moo: Mooo…moo moo moo mooo!) Nobody understands her, right:lol: She said Tactics does not belong to me!

Rating: PG-13 or T for language

Genre: Tragedy, action/adventure, suspense

Pairing: Minor Sugino and Moo

Warnings or notes: Slightly AU, OOC-ness, grammar or other errors, conflicts, suspense, a poor attempt at humor, around 1500+ words.

Again, I am sorry for the late update. Seems like school work is becoming a bundle…:sighs: I hardly have the time to think of the details for this story. Anyhow, hope you enjoy reading!

Oh yeah, this story has a thicker plot actually…:chuckles: I seem to drag too far away…but oh well…let's just wish it won't be that boring…

Japanese terms:

I guess I could drop this section since I use only the same words in dialogues throughout the entire story. If there is any new word, I will add back this section! Thanks.

**: ooo:**

Chapter 13-Unforgivable

The journey to Sakuya's place was like an eternal one. Sugino cursed under his breath when drops of rains blocked his vision several times. Yoko sneezed several times, while Moo was trying to shake off the wetness of her body, mostly her head. Haruka, on the other hand, tried his best to prevent Kantaro from getting soaked with rain.

"We are here at last!" shouted Yoko in a relieved tone when she saw a blurred view of Sakuya's house due to the bad weather. Sugino quickly located a hidden-yet-near-to-the-house spot for them to land on. After all, they were not supposed to reveal their demons' parts, moreover to be seen by any human, even though they were sure nobody would come out during this hour. But worse might come after worse, so it would be better not to take the risk. The once human did not wish for more troubles than it already had.

"Sakuya-san!" the female demon fox called for the woman, right after Sugino landed on a well-hidden spot among the trees. Haruka followed suit with a smooth landing, trying to prevent any further damage to the human in his arms.

Yoko ran towards the main door of the house, calling for its only owner. Because of her impatience and over-worried state, she tripped and fell. Sugino gave a nervous call of her name and ran towards her to help her up. Gratefully, she accepted his assistance while muttering a 'thanks'. Then, she continued her previous action, totally ignoring the bruise on both of her knees due to the trip.

'Such a loyal child…,' Sugino thought as he watched her all the way. Realizing his own thought, the white tengu shook his head slightly and a thin smile was held on his handsome feature. 'I make myself sound old…' It was true that he was indeed older than Yoko more than just a few ten years. But hey, who would want to be considered as an 'old hag' anyway?

Moo's attempt to hide in his wet hair snapped him out of his thought. It seemed like Moo was very cooperative. She knew what to do and when to hide. Smiling slightly at his 'wife', he followed Yoko's steps. The silent Haruka made his move to follow his friends too.

"Sakuya-san!" Both of the male demons heard Yoko's yell. Apparently, Kantaro had a brighter chance of surviving now with Sakuya's help. They hastened their steps without a doubt.

From far away both of the tengu noticed a figure under a bright pink umbrella. Unmistakably, it was Sakuya. Rising with hopes, Yoko ran towards to the female human, only to be stopped by a group of people suddenly. The startled female demon fox's steps halted in a second. "Sakuya-san?"

The said human turned to look up at her, revealing her sad hidden face under the fancy umbrella. "I am sorry…," her voice was audible to everyone else.

"He is NOT welcomed here! Get out of our village!" one of the crowds shouted furiously, a finger pointing at Kantaro. His loud voice somehow alerted the half conscious Kantaro. He opened his crimson eyes and turned his head at the voices, which it immediately alarmed Haruka, who was carrying him.

"Kan-chan is injured! Please get him medical help!" Yoko pleaded, trying to at least get some sympathy from those villagers even without knowing why they asked them to go.

"It's better if he dies anyway! He brings nothing but only troubles to us!" was the merciless reply from the crowds. As the human finished the sentence, the others raised their weapons, which it was mostly stones and readied to throw at Kantaro and the demons.

"But how can…"

Before Yoko had the chance to finish her sentence, another angry reply snapped at her rudely. "He will bring demons here! As long as he is here, we will be cursed! So, get the hell out of here!" It was followed by some other furious and blabbering noises from the crowds. Yoko was stunned. How could they be so cruel to an injured man? Moreover, Kantaro was their kind as well?

"You all shut up! How could you be so selfish? Filthy humans!" scolded Sugino suddenly in an outburst. His fists were clenched tightly and his whole body was shaking quite obviously. Half of the cause was of anger, the other was of himself. He had always hated himself for being a human in the past. No one knew why he felt so, even his long known friend, Haruka and his so-called 'wife'.

The moment Sugino lost his calm, Haruka's eyes narrowed dangerously. The more he heard of the conversations, the more he felt his blood boiled. It hit on his nerves badly. Actually, he already felt furious enough to kill those bastards. Just when he wanted to say something or do anything, a weak tug on his sleeve caught his attention. The black tengu looked down and met with watery pleading red eyes.

"Please…just…l…leave…," a cough. Kantaro winced in pain when he went into a coughing fit. Blood came out from his mouth and dripped onto Haruka's clothes, dirtying it with its bright red stances. The other demons turned to look at him worriedly in a jerk. "Don't…br..bring any…more…troubles…to…Sa…Saku…ya-san…," and he fainted.

Upon seeing he in such a situation pained the others, moreover the ones who knew him so well. Sakuya was crying silently at her helplessness. When she went to find a willing doctor, the villagers cornered her and questioned her about Kantaro's sudden appearance in the village. Soon after, all of them had been waiting to cast Kantaro out of the place for good. She was trying to protest, but all she received was a slap on her beautiful face. Immediately, she was silent.

Seriously speaking, the demons were bewildered with Kantaro's weak plea. How could he…

"Damn it!" Sugino cursed again, which it was an unlikely thing for the white tengu to do. There was no way for those villagers to lend them a hand. And they definitely must leave this place at once, by judging how serious Kantaro's condition was, and by how dangerous those filthy humans looked. He certainly did not care of those glares. If looks could kill, he swore that he would not lose. But now…Kantaro was a more important issue.

"Onikui, let's leave," the God murmured without turning back at his friend. Yoko was dumbfounded and was unable to do anything. For the first time in her life, she ever felt hatred towards the humans. When she was mistreated by the humans, she did not even feel strongly like this before. But now…she could feel her blood boiled. They were trying to surpass the limit.

"Leave now!" those sordid screams came back again. They did not stop when Kantaro coughed out blood. None of them cared for the poor human. Not even a tiny bit of concern was from them. Even if there was, it was from Sakuya's alone.

Finally, Haruka decided to show that he had had enough. His eyes glowed and narrowed dangerously at the crowds. Without a warning, his wings made their appearances visible in front of those eyes. Needless to say, all of them were shocked. "Demons!" Some of them backed away with frightened looks on their faces and ran. Some, however, tried to act brave by shouting and throwing stones at them. "Go away!"

Moo decided it was time for her to appear, so she did and used her ultimate skill-the 'vacuum'. Her mouth acted as the vacuum and absorbed all the stones. Then she comically gulped all the stones. Meanwhile, Sugino smirked evilly as he did the same thing as Haruka and earned some other frightened screams. Yoko did not want to cause further troubles, so she just ran towards Sugino and begged him to leave quickly.

"He brings those demon-friends of his!"

"Buddy, prepare the holy water!"

On the other hand, Haruka, who needed not to be reminded of Kantaro's condition, turned to glare at those defenseless humans before he parted. "Humans, be grateful of Kantaro. If it's not of him, I would have given you punishments. However, there is still no forgiveness." After that, he flew off towards the nearest town, leaving Sugino, Yoko and Moo.

"Moo, bring Yoko to where Onikui is headed to. I have some business here to attend to," Sugino patted on Moo's head, followed by a nod from her. The female demon fox hesitated at first, of course. But no one could refuse Sugino's request. Or rather, no one could ever turn down his demand. Thus, Yoko found herself following Moo's steps.

Turning back to the remaining humans, the white tengu gave an unfriendly odd smile. "Even though Onikui said he won't punish you…but I certainly did not say that, did I?" his eyes clearly conveyed his anger. "You should learn everyone has their own limits. Perhaps now is the golden chance to learn that," he added with another unlikely smirk.

When the humans were ready with those holy tools to fight demons off, Sugino gave a dark low laugh. "Didn't you know? Those won't work on me…," and off he began his battle. To him, it was more than just a punishment. It was a matter of pride and humanity. But most importantly, it was a matter of his past that carried convoluted 'burdens' as well as 'sins'.

**: To be continued :**

Erm…too many OOC-ness, sorry! About the last part…erm…I cannot say anything here. Anyway, please leave a review after reading, okay? Yeah, if anyone has a better title for this chapter, please tell me okay? I am poor in thinking those…:sighs:

Replies (I love you all for those kind reviews!):

NaTsUkO-ChAn: Awww…thanks for the kindness! Okay then, I won't hit it. :laughs: But sometimes it really makes me mad…Anyway, I will still appreciate its existence. :lol: I am weird. Ah, about the fluff if Kantaro survives…how would you want it to be:laughs: I might consider it since…oh well, no spoilers here. XD But do tell me what's on your idea ne:)

Ruby-dream: Nyu…:glomps back: Now only I know this story makes people feel that way towards Kantaro. XP Thanks for the review, by the way! Hope you won't kill me after reading this chapter…:hides:

Kazuha: Yeah…I guess this chapter has a lot of OOC-ness too. Sorry for that ne! Sorry for the late update too… :'( Hope you don't find this boring ne. And thanks for the review!

Kheal-chan: Hehehe, actually to tell the truth, the story will not end that soon, since I am capable to 'drag' it. :lol: Hope you won't find it bores you until you get fed up of it. Yeah, thank you for the review too!

Yummy Yaoi: I am honored to hear that! Thanks:bows: Yeah, I agree with that. Yoko's very caring about Kantaro in the anime. XD Sugino? Well…I agree with how Sugino actually likes Kantaro despite his attitude too! X3 Guess that's why it inspired me to write like this…But it might be OOC ne…:sweats: My writing is becoming worse…Sorry. :(

Silverkaze013: Hahaha. No, you don't ramble too much. Indeed, I appreciate it! XD Thanks a lot for the review! I hope I can update faster for the next chapter… :) Try my best then. Hope you find this chapter enjoying, if not at least okay:sweats:

White Sherry: I think you did…:laughs: But anyway, thanks for such support! Hope you will continue reading. You are welcome to critique it too ne!

Arbil: Thanks for the review. Erm…about your question, I guess it's better I don't reveal the storyline here. :sweats: Suspense is better. XD But anyway, hope you enjoy reading!

AzzieAz: Awww….thanks:glomps: It's kind of you. Kan-chan will survive (I promised earlier, and still hold onto this promise. Yet, I still like to torture him :lol: ) Hope you like this chapter!

Hopeless-Angel1605: Thanks! Here's the next chapter. Please feel free to critique ne. :bows:

Goku-chan: Thanks for the review ne. Aww…:hands cookies: Please don't worry too much ne? I still keep my promise. :lol: Anyway, hope you enjoy reading!

Additional reply (reviewed on Chapter 11):

Goku-chan: Nyu, it's okay. :) I am already thankful to you for reading! Awww…without a pc is not good. :( It will make me bored. But hopefully you enjoyed the vacation! Nyu, I promise Kan-chan will survive, so don't worry. XD Plus, I wish to live longer. :lol:


	14. Life is like a dream

**Waiting for you**

Disclaimer: Do I have to do this sad announcement every time? Tactics is not mine nyu….

Rating: PG-13 or T for language

Genre: Tragedy, action/adventure, suspense, angst

Pairing: Minor Sugino and Moo

Warnings or notes: Slightly AU, OOC-ness, grammar or other errors, a poor attempt at humor, an original character, around 1800+ words.

Wah! I will be killed for the late update! Sorry sorry sorry…I guess I just didn't have the time to do that…But I will continue this story nonetheless. By the way, a reviewer told me of the mistakes I did in 'Japanese's terms'. I did edit, if anyone of you noticed earlier. I am editing my past chapters to made reading better.

This is the longest chapter so far and it is dedicated to my readers for seeking forgiveness of the delay. Thanks for the support and hope you enjoy this chapter!

**: ooo :**

Chapter 14-Life is like a dream

'Kantaro is dying…And I am too blind to see it beforehand…'

"Open the door!" yelled the famous Soul Eater tengu as he gave a light kick on a wooden door with a sign 'closed'. After he left the group, he set off to find the nearest town in hope to seek medical help for the mortal, who he had been carrying in his arms. Although Kantaro was light, but carrying all the way was tiring the tengu out.

When he finally spotted a town, he made a quick land and rushed to find some help. He did find a clinic. Apparently there was no hospital in this small town and the tengu had no choice but to accept any medical help offered.

After a few calls and still no response, Haruka snorted. He was soaked from head to toe, and his ex-master was dying! Things could not be any better by now. "Open the damn door!" he yelled angrily while giving the door a hard kick. The tengu could be short-tempered at times. Right now, his patience was running thin. He felt furious enough with those bastards in Kantaro's village that he had not wanted to seek for a mortal's help, yet he had to, having out of no choice.

As a result to his harsh attitude and the powerful kick, the wooden door fell apart and revealed a small living room. At first Haruka would have thought this was none other than an old man's house, if there was not a sign written 'Takizawa's Clinic' above the door. He was going to leave when he saw no one. Yet, his sharp ears picked up some low noises behind a door.

Still carrying Kantaro, he went near towards the door. As if by cue, the door flung opened, which it nearly hit Haruka if he did not dodge in time and revealed an old man. His eyes traveled from what he was looking at the person in front of him and to Haruka's surprise, he shrieked. "AHH!"

A vicious looking man, soaked from head to toe and not to mention stained with blood, appeared from nowhere. It gave the poor old man a heart attack. Before the stranger could open his mouth to say anything, he finally noticed the limp figure in his protective arms; an injured young man. Correction…it should be 'a very injured young man'.

"My gosh! Come here immediately!" he pointed at the room. Apparently it was a patient's room, even though it was quite small. Haruka made no argument and just obeyed the order. Actually, he felt glad that the human understood their urgent situation. Despite the fact the human was old, he was fast and gentle nonetheless. It amused Haruka to see how well he examined Kantaro.

"Please have a hot bath and change your wet clothes to prevent from catching a cold," the old man turned from what he had been doing and gestured at a pile of white clean clothes on a round table. "I can manage it alone," he gave a reassuring smile. Haruka merely nodded and took a last glance at Kantaro before he went out of the room with a set of clothes in his hands.

The demon saw a sign said 'bathroom' so he entered. This clinic might be small, but it was decent. Everything was arranged perfectly in order. For now, Haruka decided to relax his tensed muscles by having a nice hot bath since Kantaro was in good hands. Tossing aside his stained clothes, he sighed deeply. Those blood…those metallic smell of it…it reminded him of his menace self. He could feel it…the overwhelming power stirred within him; the power that was once sealed.

He could also feel the broken seal of Kantaro's. Yes, he was really freed now from all seals. Yet, it did not seem right. He felt something was missing. But what was it? Little he did know he had changed. From a menace demon, he had changed to another being called 'Haruka'. All those months staying with Kantaro and Yoko really did have a strong impact on him. It was unnerving, yet it was also comfortable.

"I am really corrupted," Haruka mussed as he rinsed his body with warm water. 'I always think I do not suit to have this name-Haruka,' he thought silently while he took the clean towel and wiped himself. With a swift movement, he dressed and went out of the toilet, leaving the dirty clothes in the basket, but not leaving without his precious bowl.

He was still wiping his hair as he entered the patient room where Kantaro was, and cleared his throat to inform his presence. The doctor turned to him and wiped off his own sweats. "It is a miracle that your friend here survives through these injuries. He has a few broken ribs on his right, a cracked bone on his right leg, head injuries, a few deep cuts and shallow cuts. The others are bruises…Apart from that, it seems like he was carefully tended beforehand."

Haruka was saying nothing and let the old man did the talking all the time. The demon's trained eyes traveled from the old man to the limp figure on the king sized bed. Kantaro's eyes were closed while his breathings were shallow and his skin was so pale...A thick blanket covered his small body. Apparently, Takizawa changed Kantaro's clothes to the ones similar to Haruka's since they were the only clothes available in the clinic.

"And young man, you wrecked my door…," Takizawa, the old doctor let out a sigh when he learned that Haruka was not paying attention to him.

Almost apologetically, Haruka scratched his head and turned to look at the other way, embarrassed. He knew he was acting out of himself by crushing the poor door down, but the situation was urgent! So, instead of answering, he kept silent.

However, in fact, Takizawa did not mean to blame the demon for breaking his property. The old man was more to tease Haruka. After seeing the charming young man's embarrassed look, the doctor gave in and laughed. "I am just teasing. Take it easy. In fact, it might be a good thing that you crashed it down. He is really in a bad shape."

His laughter made the proud tengu flushed deeper than he already was. Just when they were having their business, someone knocked on the closed door. Takizawa rose from his seat, where it was just beside Kantaro's and headed to open the door. When he opened it, Haruka saw Yoko and surprisingly, Moo also were there. Same as Haruka and Kantaro before, they were fully soaked.

"Kan-chan! Haruka-chan!" Yoko exclaimed, totally unaware about Moo's existence might scare the old man. Moo was overjoyed to see Kantaro to be fine in the large and fluffy bed that she went flying towards the lying form. Haruka was actually feeling glad to be rid of the old man's teases.

"Oh, it seems like I am having a number of visitors today. Please young lady, take a hot bath to make you warm. And you too, little one," Takizawa nudged softly at the worried female and patted on Moo's head while giving her a smile. Yoko was shocked to find that when she realized Moo was not hiding whereas she usually would.

"Urm…you see…"

"Yes I know. You are demons right?" Takizawa was still smiling but he turned to look at Haruka, Yoko and Moo accordingly. "This young man here must be your master," he added as a matter of fact. Yoko's jaw dropped. How could a mere mortal know this…?

"I am a demon myself. Although my master left me a long time ago…," Takizawa's short explanation cleared everything. So he was not a mortal after all. His tone was nostalgic when he mentioned his deceased master. "She was a lovely lady…Ahh…Anyway, please suit yourselves," with that, he went out of the room without a word. God only knew where he would be gone to.

Yoko exchanged looks with Haruka. 'So a demon saves Kantaro's life whereas humans despise him…'

After a while, the demon fox decided to take a hot bath like suggested and went out of the room. Moo decided to tag her as she followed her to the bathroom. After a while, both of the female demons came back. Upon seeing them, Haruka took a look at Kantaro's form before he went out. Neither of Yoko nor Moo made any attempt to stop him by having too worried of Kantaro's condition and out of understanding.

'Now…what can I do…?'

As if by cue, his eyes looked at the broken door. He narrowed his eyes when he spotted someone in the rain. "Sugino?" he called out warily.

The other tengu made his appearance with a solemn look on his handsome figure. "Aa, Onikui…" As he was saying that, his wings vanished into mid air like magic.

It was no surprise to the shorted haired tengu that he was not with Yoko and Moo. The demon simply knew Sugino would not forgive the villagers by any means. They reminded him too much of the long haired tengu's past; the past that would be better forgotten in his case. Yet, the black tengu made no comment.

"Settled?" Haruka asked with just a single word. And he gained a short nod for the answer. Closing his eyes, he said, "Then it's good…"

Sugino walked into the house, dripping waters on the wooden floor with his head still low. "How about that guy?" finally decided to drop the subject, the white tengu asked about Kantaro's condition instead. Although, he still refused to call him by name out of habit.

"He is all right currently…," the other replied. It was followed by an acknowledged nod by Sugino.

"So…now what are you going to do? To stay…or to leave?" suddenly the long haired tengu asked. He really knew how to hit the right button, Haruka mused.

"Technically, he is not my master anymore. Thus I don't have to serve him like a slave. However, he sacrificed himself just to return my memories and power…knowing that was my most desired wish…"

Sugino sighed. It looked like Haruka was feeling sorry for what he had done. It was a good thing though. "Then?"

"I will stay," Haruka finally decided with a firmed tone. Then he walked away towards Kantaro's room. Before he entered, he turned to Sugino once more. "I stay just to pay back the debt," and he entered.

The long haired tengu gave a defeated smile. Haruka was still in denial. He refused to admit he truly felt sorry for Kantaro, perhaps a little caring too. When he was left alone, Sugino suddenly remembered someone. "Moo-chan!" and so he barked into the room without a second thought for Kantaro's well being.

Yoko could only smile. Life was like a dream. Sometimes it would be nightmares, and it would be sweet dreams at times too. Kantaro's life was full of nightmares… 'It will be a sweet dream for Kan-chan from now on…Everything would be fine…'

Sadly she did not know…Kantaro would never live long without his spiritual power, which it was a part of his life. Physical wounds would surely heal, but mental wounds would take long time to heal. And Kantaro just did not have much time to do that…

**: To be continued : **

Just don't be frightened by the last sentence, Kantaro would NOT die in this fiction, but that sentence alone triggers some parts in the ending. So urm…just don't worry. :smiles: And Takizawa, the doctor is just a minor original support-character.

Replies:

Silverkaze013: Haha, thanks for the review. I am sorry for the late update though. Must be cursed by my readers lol! Yeah, thanks for the review on 'Love and family bond'. Yet I just want to inform something, that story is one-shot so I won't continue it. You might want to know this since you added it to your story alert ne?

Kheal-chan: Thanks a lot for the review!

NaTsUkO-ChAn: I am too evil and like to torture Kantaro! XD Hahahaha, I am so sorry for the lateness and for the little request you did in last chapter's review…It seems like I can't include fluffiness between those two…for some reasons. :bangs her head: Hope you are not annoyed! Sorry…nyu…Yeah, thanks a million for the kind review!

Yummy Yaoi: Thanks for the concern and review as well! Hehehe, it seems like there are a number of Haruka x Kantaro fans! I will write more of them in other stories I am planning to do in the future then. X3 Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Goku-chan: Oh you really bought it? Aww…I totally agree with you that the ending is not what I am hoping for:raises banner: It's like…beginning of another new story. Lol, though my kind of ending might not be yaoi-related, but still…it would be fine with me. XD Yeah, thanks for the review and sorry for the delay…:bows:

Arbil: I am a mean author, now I know lol! I think I like to mess with Kantaro's life. But anyway, it would be better soon. :smiles: And thanks for the review! Hope you like this chapter.

Yee Leng: Hai, thanks a lot for such review! Lol, I am not that mean to kill Kantaro, since he is my fave character too! XP Hope you enjoy reading this chapter then!

Tactics fan: Thank you for the comment. :bows: I will update this story till it reaches its ending, but I might take a few weeks for one chapter now since I find time hardly enough for me to write…Anyway, hope you will continue reading till the end! Thanks again!

Kazuha: Aww...I am sorry for that. :( I know it's been long...Gomen! But I hope you like this chapter...:bows: Thanks for the review!

Additional replies (Chapter 1):

Azarea: Haha, yeah, I pity Kantaro for his life. Anyway, thanks for the comment.

DarkKatana: Oh, I am so sorry to make so many mistakes! But I did edit so I must thank you for the information! Yeah, frankly I followed the anime's translations…instead of the manga's. I did watch and read the manga though…Well, I am not very excellent in Japanese so urm…it became like this. Anyhow, thanks again for telling me:bows:

Additional reply (Chapter 12):

Yee Leng: Thanks a lot. This story is created because I kinda don't like the original ending, but Yuzu and Raiko would not be in this fic so I can't really say this story's related to the original's…:sweatdrops: I am talking nonsense lol!


	15. The curse of the family

**Waiting for you**

Disclaimer: I wish I own them. :grins: But unfortunately, I only own the storyline and two original characters (Sakuya and Takizawa).

Rating: PG or K+

Genres: Slightly AU, action/adventure, angst

Pairing: None in this chapter

Warnings or notes: AU for Kantaro's and Haruka's past, grammar and other errors, OOC-ness, around 1600+ words.

First of all, thank you for the 100+ reviews! It is such a honor to receive the kind and encouraging reviews from the readers. I hope you will find it worth spending your time on and have a nice day!

This chapter is another mystery-reveal chapter. If you remember the details in past chapters, I did write about Kantaro's parents being cruel to him. So, this chapter will explain why. And a reader asked me about turning Kantaro into a goblin like Sugino did as a way to save him. It is explained here. So enjoy reading!

**: ooo :**

Chapter 15-The curse of the family

A week passed by swiftly. During the time, Kantaro and the others were staying at Takizawa's clinic, where it was also the doctor's home. Haruka, who had broken the door days earlier, volunteered to fix it up. After all, it was his fault and he hated to owe others. Yoko stayed to take care of her master. Although occasionally she would go back to Kantaro's house for cleaning and such. On the other hand, Sugino and Moo did not stay. Nevertheless, they would pay a visit every day.

"It has been a week…But Kan-chan has not really woken up. He slips in and out from consciousness…," Yoko had voiced out her concern to Takizawa. "I wonder when he would wake up…" Her hope a few days was a little crushed when she saw her master like that.

The other offered a gentle pat on her shoulder. "Don't worry. It's because his body needs more rest." Actually, Takizawa was worried of Kantaro as well. The mortal's condition was a lot worse than his demon companions would imagine even though his physical wounds had almost healed fully. Being a doctor, it was his priority to tell the truth, yet he found it hard to do so.

After a few minutes of silence, Yoko rose from her seat. "I think I should go to clean up our house now…I will be back soon. Please take care of Kan-chan ne?" Then she left the clinic.

When her figure was out of sight, another figure appeared. "He won't live long, would he?"

Even without turning back, Takizawa knew who it was. "His spiritual power is lost…that indicates a part of his life is missing. There is nothing to replace it, or shall I say nothing is equivalent to his life power," the doctor finally answered. Haruka was not someone he could hide the truth from.

The black tengu said nothing. Mysteriously, he had known the fact without knowing when and how.There was only one way to save Kantaro, if only he could turninto a goblin like Sugino did. Yet, having lost of his spiritual power, the option was unavailable. Life was really ironic at times.

They fell into remain silent for almost half an hour before they heard some noises. Takizawa said he would check on Kantaro and went into the patient room the mortal occupied. It was only second he entered the room, Haruka heard a gasp. "Ichinomiya-san, you shouldn't get out from the bed!"

That was enough to make him walk in haste towards the room. Kantaro was awake finally, after a long week of rest…

"I feel well enough, Takizawa-san. Thanks for the concern," replied Kantaro with a smile he usually wore. Apparently, Kantaro was not as blur as they thought he was in his half-conscious state during that week. He still managed to catch glimpses of their conversations in his room. At least, he could know the doctor's name from their conversations.

For the first time, Haruka did not what to say when he was facing the mortal. He knew Kantaro was pretending to be okay. He was obviously not well enough. He was acting tough. Carrying the dying Kantaro in Haruka's arms became almost like a dream. Kantaro pretended like nothing happened. Why could he not stop such reckless act?

"Reckless," so, instead of asking questions that went on in his mind, he simply said something sounded like his own self; stoic and nonchalant. They were too occupied with their own minds that Takizawa was almost invisible in the room.

"I always am," as much as he wanted to call the tengu by the name of 'Haruka', he refrained himself before his habit slipped. Haruka was not his slave anymore. He was not 'Haruka' anymore. 'He is not my slave now…,' Kantaro thought bitterly. Yet, his crimson eyes showed no regrets.

"Please, Ichinomiya-san, you should rest more," it was then Takizawa decided to snap in and advised like a normal doctor should. Kantaro gave another smile, this time a thin smile.

"I know how well my body could cope with. Thanks for the hospitality and concern, Takizawa-san. I need to take fresh airs…," suddenly, the young human went out from the room, passing by Haruka and the stunned doctor. Takizawa gave a worried look at Haruka, while the other just gave him another knowing look.

"He never fails to amuse me…," the older demon said in amazement. 'He lived through the fall from the cliff, survived over the deadly ritual and still capable to defend himself over Onikui tengu's attack…he is a miraculous mortal,' he thought.

"Just another thick-headed human," replied the black tengu. Those were his last words before he picked up his coat and went after Kantaro.

Meanwhile, Kantaro went out of the clinic despite his body still needed time to heal. Half-limping, he went towards a place he had known so well. Yes, he had been in this small town before, when he was young. His parents were kinder by that time and they brought him here. It was nostalgic to be reminded of such bittersweet memories.

: Flashback :

"Kantaro, want to play the lantern?" his father asked, looking up at the 3 years old Kantaro, who was sitting on his shoulders. Little Kantaro giggled childishly and nodded happily. His mother smiled and bought the colorful lantern for him. He accepted the little gift with a wide grin on his face. His smiles were much more innocent back then.

He lit the candle in the lantern and hold at the end of a stick connected to it. It was then something caught his eyes. The pair of crimson eyes glowed with curiosity. "Mama, what is that?" short finger pointed at somewhere in the dark.

His parents looked at where he was pointing and in a moment their faces showed confusion. "What are you talking about, Kantaro? There is no one…"

"There! There is something with a horn on its head and it smiles at me!" Instead of frightened, Kantaro showed interest. The moment he said those words, both of his parents showed fear in their faces. Their son was cursed. Kantaro was cursed with ability of an exorcist in his early age.

Kantaro later realized…He had something others did not have. And his parents grew to hate him for it. The curse of the Ichinomiya family…was passed down to their little son. "It can't be…We left that disgraceful house! I refused to be the head of Ichinomiya clan…I did not take on the job as an exorcist…," his father voiced out his thought miserably.

"Kantaro must not know about the curse…," Kantaro's mother stated in the equal tone.

"He is the curse now! Don't you see how his eyes glowed with happiness when he saw a youkai days ago? He is going to bear the burden of Ichinomiya…," his father snapped in a mixture of hurt and anger.

His parents tried everything to stop him and his interest in becoming an exorcist as fate destined him to be. Their attempts were in vain and the truth spread to the rest of the village that Kantaro was cursed. Immediately, it stirred up frights among the villagers and they had taken actions against Kantaro's family. Then one day, his parents left him alone. They could not tolerate with his passion to be friends with demons or spirits. They did not want to see their only son to be destroyed by the curse. So they left without notice.

Kantaro's father used to be an exorcist before he was married to his mother. But the moment he had learned of the family curse, he backed out immediately and left the household with his beloved. He did not want to be burdened by it. The curse was cast by the strongest tengu of all-Orge Eater Tengu..

It all started when Kantaro's ancestor tried to fight the famous Orge Eater tengu. His ancestor succeeded in winning, and even managed to seal the vicious demon. However, before the demon was completely sealed, he cast a curse, which it was to haunt the Ichinomiya family until their deaths. They would never be able to live in peace, nor die in peace for they would feel his presence until he was unsealed. Somehow, the burden of it was heavier on those became exorcists in Ichinomiya's lineage.

And Kantaro, having the talent in his blood, began a journey to search for the fallen Orge Eater tengu. It was as if the tengu was calling out to him. When he finally found the tengu, he was relieved. 'I have the chance to atone the sins I bear…I am happy that I found you…,' Kantaro thought as a few drops of salty tears rolled down from his crimson eyes.

"After years of searching…I finally found you…Haruka…," Kantaro had voiced out his mixed feelings at the moment he saw the demon. 'My ancestor did a mistake in sealing you, locking you in the ultimate darkness. And I would be the one that release you from the shadows. I shall be the one to bear the burdens and seek for your forgiveness…,' Kantaro thought as his tears continued to fall.

: End of flashback :

Unknowingly to the young man, the soft tears returned as the pieces of memories recalled in his mind. "I finally atoned the sins…paid for the punishments…released him from the darkness…Yet…did I succeed in seeking forgiveness?" Kantaro's voice was audible.

Haruka overheard his last words and decided to reveal himself. He had been watching the human for a few minutes now and began to feel restless for some reasons. "Kantaro…What is it that you need to seek for forgiveness?"

His sudden unexpected appearance nearly made Kantaro jump out of his skin. Nevertheless, he did not show much of the shock and did not wipe away his tears either. Instead, he lowered his head. 'So…there is nothing for him to be forgiving…Maybe it is because I am such an eyesore…I deserve no forgiveness…?'

**: To be continued :**

I am evil…:laughs: I stopped at a cliff-hanger again. XD The story is near to the ending now…Aww…finally. :)

Replies (thanks for the wonderful reviews!):

Yummy Yaoi: Hahaha, yeah. He is always typical no? XP Thanks for the review and comment. That fic entitled 'Haruka and his name'? You read it? XD Hehehe, that was plain plot-less lol! But thanks anyway! Hope you like the other 'Kantaro and his age'. :laughs:

Goku-chan: Sorry sorry. :( I am really a slowpoke…always update late. Hahaha, thanks though for the review! Oh, I agree with you that Tactics should have a movie or sequel! If only that is true…I would be real happy. XD

Kero: Kero-chan, your long review is definitely not a crappy review! That was so nice of you to drop me a review and telling me my mistakes at the same time:glomps: And I do admit my writing is poor. :P Anyway, I will edit the other chapters following your advices. And don't ever apologize for the review:) I do appreciate your help. Hehehe. Thanks again!

NaTsUkO-ChAn: Uwaa! Sorry:hides: It's that…no shonen-ai in this story…but…I promise you I make other Tactics stories as fluffy as you want? XD (One thing, I do love them. X3 ) Lol, thanks for the review by the way! Hehehe, I am honored to read your review every time. And hope you like this chapter!

Kazuha: Thanks! By the way, you might call me 'Rei' because that is my name. XD Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter!

Ruby-dream: Lol…yeah, I guess I am such an evil author after all! Can't manage to bring joy in reading because in the end something must have spoiled your mood ne:sweats: Sorry! But I will try my best to make it good ending ne:) Hehehe, hope you like this chapter!

Mysterious: Wow, such a nick. XD Lol, thanks for the review. I am honored to hear those words from you. The ending is near so I guess I might be able to finish it this month (if I work fast enough…). Oh, good luck in your exam then! My exam is coming too. :)

Jez-Arinn: Lol…nope, but it would be one or two more chapters to go. :) Nyu, I am not sure myself how my ending would be…:sweats: Hehehehe. Yeah, it doesn't do Tactics any justice that the anime ends it that way! It is just too bad…Aii…Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks a lot for the reviews! X3 By the way, I am still a novice to start a manga of my own lol.

Dadaiiro: Aww...thanks for spending your time on reviewing. It's my honor. Haha, that question is a good one. About turning Kantaro into a goblin/tengu like Sugino. It is answered in this chapter. So, hope you like it:)

Additional replies (late reviews):

_Chapter 13_

Ruby-dream: Lol, thanks a lot for the comment. Hehehe, I like Sugino too, he is too cute. X3 Yeah, this fic contains some messages about us, humans. I think I just love to add that kind of reflective stuffs into my stories. XP It is an important message for us not to be cruel to another being. Well, just some lame advices? XD

_Chapter 1_

Craig: Urm…Thanks for the review and visit to my blog. Yeah…I don't think I would forget that. :sweats:

_Chapter 9_

Jez-Arinn: Hahaha, you seemed excited lol. Why did I choose to write this? Hmm…Lol. Nyu, okay, I don't really mind that. XD Just hope you enjoy the story! And nope, as I said before, my skills are not good enough to turn this into a manga, even though I would love to. X3

_Chapter 10_

Jez-Arinn: Hehehe, I set myself a limit (not more than 1600 words per chapter actually). That is why everything is so short. X3 Maybe because I don't like to read long chapters, so I set a limit. Hehehe, thanks for the compliment. :) Yet again, I wish I could draw this, but I am sure I would be dying (by seeing how many chapters there are)! XD!


	16. Wait for me

**Waiting for you**

Disclaimer: (Sakuya and Takizawa: She only owns us and Tactics does not belong to her.)

Rating: PG or K+

Genre: Tragedy, action/adventure, suspense, angst

Pairing: Minor Sugino and Moo

Warnings or notes: Slightly AU, complicated emotions, grammar and other errors, OOC-ness, around 1800+ words and this is the ENDING!

Hi, everyone. This is the last chapter of 'Waiting for you'. I managed to finish this at last. Thanks to my wonderful readers and friends. Also thanks to Kero-chan for editing this chapter:hugs: That is so kind fo you and I wish you are not bothered by my poor English lol!

Hope you would give some last reviews of your opinions throughout the entire story. Enjoy reading!

**: ooo :**

Last chapter-Wait for me

"Kantaro…" Haruka moved nearer towards Kantaro, whose bangs were shadowing his anxious eyes. He had expected the worst, yet why would he still feel afraid of Haruka's rejection? "You haven't answered my question," he pressed.

The other remained silent, which it was so unlikely for him to do. He was always the talkative one in the house. But this time…Haruka's aura…everything was so suffocating to him. After a few minutes, he finally opened his trembling mouth. "I don't deserve to be forgiven, do I?" he asked timidly.

Haruka narrowed his eyes, somewhat disgustedly. "Why are you always like this?"

Interpreting that as a 'yes', Kantaro closed his red eyes in pain. "That's the way I am…" Surprisingly, he still managed to answer the black tengu.

Haruka's eyes softened when he saw the younger showing that pained expression. "There is nothing for me to forgive. You did nothing wrong in the first place, Kantaro," he explained, which made Kantaro open his eyes in shock. "What your ancestor did to me has nothing to do with you. In fact, I was the cause. Why didn't I realize this earlier…?" Clearly, the disgust he had shown earlier was of Haruka himself. He was disgusted by himself because he was wrong; he had been wrong even from the beginning.

True enough, it was Kantaro's ancestor that sealed him in the darkness. Yet he was the one who cursed the Ichinomiya in order to get revenge without thinking how it would hurt the innocents. Because of his curse, Kantaro's life was turned upside down. If Kantaro said he carried unforgivable sins, then Haruka's sins were heavier.

'I ruined his whole life, just because I wanted to get revenge…' Haruka turned away angrily. He was feeling angry at himself because he knew he was the one who had made the biggest mistake. However, it was too late – everything was done. There was no use crying over spilt milk. Moreover, there were no more curses and seals. All was gone.

Speaking of some complicated emotions and some complex links here.

It was then that he felt the drops of water on his hand, snapping him out of his reverie. The water was none other than Kantaro's tears, now that he was in front of him. "Thank you, Haruka," he murmured, happy tears falling from his eyes. He missed the name he had given to the demon. Kantaro could not stop himself from calling him this name again, knowing that he had earned forgiveness from the other.

The atmosphere at the moment was so familiar to the demon. The same situation occurred to him when he was going to kill Kantaro…and his ex-master said the same line.

'_Thank you, Haruka,'_

'This is absurd…,' Haruka mused, sighing. Before he had the chance to speak, another gasp interrupted.

"Kan-chan!" Obviously, it belonged to Yoko. The female demon was walking side by side with Sugino and his 'wife' Moo. Upon seeing Kantaro, Moo jumped right into his arms. Sugino sent a jealous glare at Kantaro, who was smiling gently at the little green demon.

"So, you're awake, huh," Sugino did not mean to seem short-tempered, but he was jealous of Moo's happy expression when in Kantaro's arms. 'Taking advantage of Moo-chan… Ah! She is still innocent!' he screamed in his mind. Well, a bit overprotective.

"Kan-chan, how are you feeling?" Apparently, only Yoko noticed the dried tears on Kantaro's face, but she did not mention it out of respect towards her master. 'Looks like they've become better…'

Kantaro nodded. "I am feeling better. Thanks for the concern." Then he turned towards Sugino. "Sugino-sama, thank you as well," he gave his best smile. After all, Sugino was the one who had saved him during the fight between him and the berserk Haruka.

The God only rolled his eyes in reply. To him, it was nothing that big to be thankful for. He just acted like anyone would. Meanwhile, Haruka was being the silent observer. He only watched them, as if he was not among them.

"And I'm for causing trouble to all of you…" the human apologized, about to bow despite the throbbing pain in his torso.

'"Kan-chan, don't sound so old!" Yoko laughed, stopping his action. "This is so unlike you," she added, half-joking.

Even Sugino's hand was resting on his shoulder, restraining him. "Heck. I enjoyed troubling those useless humans," Well, that was his way of saying 'do not mention it'. Typical of him to say things like that.

Moo mooed several times, indicating that she did not think Kantaro gave her any trouble either. At that, a big smile spread across Kantaro's face. "Thank you, everyone," he murmured.

"One more thing, Kan-chan. This rubbish? You can keep it," Yoko thrust a wrinkled paper in Kantaro's palm. "I have only one master, and that's you," she declared firmly. Her action triggered curiosity in both Haruka's and Sugino's eyes.

Kantaro unfolded the paper and his eyes widened slightly. The paper was the note he had left for Yoko before he left to perform the ritual. It was a note saying Yoko was freed from the servitude and no longer his slave. From the 'damage' done to his note, Yoko did not seem to be happy about it. "But, I –"

"No 'buts', Kan-chan. I will stalk you forever if you really mean it," Yoko pouted. She really was fond of her master. Although he was hard to understand and even lazy at times, he was still the greatest human she had ever met.

Her words touched Kantaro deeply. He, the one who had lost love and friendship at an early age, had been numb to positive emotions as he aged. This was the first time he felt touched. "Thanks, Yoko…"

The other two seemed to understand the whole situation by just observing them. Suddenly, a female voice called out to them. "Kantaro! Yoko-chan! Sugino-san!" Then Sakuya appeared, with a fruit basket in her hands. "This is for you, Kantaro," She handed him the basket filled with variety of fruits, followed by a 'thanks' from Kantaro. "Nice to meet you, Haruka-san." She greeted Haruka. Her woman's intuition told her that the other handsome guy was Haruka.

The tengu showed mild confusion but he returned the polite gesture nonetheless. "What brings you here, Sakuya-san?" asked Yoko.

"I am here on behalf of the villagers to apologize and welcome Kantaro back. Sugino-san did a good job in opening their minds," replied Sakuya. Her sapphire eyes were glowing in happiness. Kantaro was dazed. Haruka looked into Sugino's eyes directly, while the once mortal showed nothing in response.

'Apologize? Welcome? Back to the village?' his mind kept repeating the same things over and over. "What…?" his mind still failed to register the fact.

Sakuya smiled the motherly smile again. "They wanted to make amends for how they treated you in the past years. And they welcome you back to the village! Isn't that a good thing?" Yes, indeed, it was a good thing. To Kantaro, whatever happened in the past was history, and the present was the most important thing. Thus, he gladly accepted the offer open-mindedly.

'It seems that Kantaro's life is turning following the wheel of fortune now…,' Sugino and Yoko thought.

Unnoticed by them, the day turned into night swiftly. Surprisingly enough, Kantaro was discharged from Takizawa's clinic on the very same day and he was permitted to go back home. Sugino, Moo and Sakuya bid their farewells and went back to their own homes.

'It is you who freed me from the past…Thank you, Kantaro,' Sugino thought when he carried Moo and flew back to the forest they were living in. The God felt relieved that the heavy burden on his shoulders back in the years was gone. 'From now on, I shall see you in another point of view…'

Meanwhile, the other three were walking back to Kantaro's house as he had insisted. Such a persistent human.

'_I stay just to pay the debt.' _Haruka remembered saying those words to Sugino as an act of denial. But now, he found it hard to repeat those words. 'I owe him too much…'

Strangely enough, the human seemed to acknowledge his decision to stay after such incident. Kantaro asked no questions and just showed his sly smile. For a while, Haruka would have said it was Kantaro's manipulative attitude that made him stay.

When they reached Kantaro's house, Yoko asked her master to rest in his room. Kantaro obeyed heartily, for he was exhausted. At that, he earned a see?-I-told-you-so look from the female goblin. Afterwards, Yoko said she had to leave the house to run an errand for someone. So there were only Haruka and Kantaro left in the house. When Haruka and Kantaro were alone, the goblin finally had the chance to continue their conversation from where it had stopped earlier.

He gained permission to enter Kantaro's room and seated himself on the floor. "Kantaro…I haven't thanked you, have I?" he finally said, swallowing his pride for once. The other only smiled in return. That day was such a great day in his new life. "And I haven't said sorry either…"

"You are welcome and forgiven," Kantaro answered shortly. "You sound like you've been forced into this – as if I commanded you to do it. Don't be," he added with a laugh.

"Your life span –" Although he was pissed off by the last comment, for being teased, Haruka said nothing about it. He was not in the mood for a joke.

"Haruka, let's create some happy memories…" Kantaro said, out of the blue, cutting off Haruka's speech. "I want to live a happy life until my last breath," he added, sounding extremely serious for once. There was no fear of his death visible on his face. "I do not want to regret anything…"

The Ogre Eater tengu turned to look at Kantaro for a moment before returning his gaze to the view outside. "As you wish…"

Satisfied by the answer, the mortal smiled. "Do you believe in reincarnation, Haruka?" He never felt bored calling the demon's name. Haruka… Haruka… Haruka… It was such a nice name.

As expected, the other nodded. "Will you wait for me then? After my reincarnation...?" Yet again, Kantaro just had the insufferable nerve to ask weird questions. "But this time, not as a master and slave. As friends…" Kantaro added with his childlike smile. "Like now."

"Aa…" Haruka found that the corners of his lips twitched upwards involuntarily, forming a thin smile. "But – No, I won't wait for you." This was enough to make Kantaro frown. But Haruka quickly explained to avoid further misunderstanding. "For years you have been searching for me.This time I will search for you. So, wait for us… For me."

Kantaro immediately found himself smiling. "I will be waiting for you, then…"

A solemn promise was made and both of them vowed to fulfill it. Deaths would never shatter the promise and the hopes. Fate's cunning hand would continue to guide those lost souls and lead them into right paths. And friendship would always remain.

'_I will be waiting for you…'_

**: THE END :**

Once again, thanks for reading until the end! I hope I didn't miss out any details (the new plot was thicker than I originally planned lol) and pray it's not that boring. :bows: It's my honor to finish it and to have your support. :bows deeply: Oh yeah, it doesn't imply anything on shonen-ai/slash between Haruka and Kantaro. XP

The ending is meant to be matched with the title (all my multi-chapters stories are ended in the similar way). It might be lame to end it this way. Sorry for that.

As you can see, I included some advice throughout the entire story. Some of you might have noticed them though. (Bracket) shows the advices are shown through which character; only Tactics original characters are involved.

_-Not matter what happens, see things from different points of view before one takes any action. You might end up feeling guilty for the rest of your life. (Haruka and Sugino)_

_-One never does anything without a reason. (Kantaro)_

_-Never feel regret over something that is the past. The most important are the present and the future. Instead of blaming oneself, it is better to make amends. (Kantaro, Haruka and Sugino-minor part)_

_-Be truthful and never hide anything from the ones you care about. Being straight forward can help you to solve your problems, even indirectly. It is because humans can never live alone. (Kantaro and Yoko-minor)_

_-Repay one's kindness and don't forget it. (Yoko)_

_-Hatred only brings more pain and suffering. Learn to be forgiving. (Haruka)_

_-Never be cruel to anyone, or any beings in this world. No one deserves to be mistreated and one has no reason to mistreat the others. (the villagers)_

_-Life is not always bright, but there are hopes. Always believe there will be good events waiting for you in the end. You might lose something, but you will always gain something in return. (Kantaro)_

_-No friendship is sweet all the time and it turns out bitter sometimes. But, trust each other and it will turn out all right. (Kantaro with Haruka)_

Probably there are more but the above are the obvious ones. I hope the readers learn something from reading this story, not only enjoy it. :D So long!

Replies (I would miss you all!):

Dadaiiro: Hahahaha, I like answering your questions. It seems like you know what I am plotting and your questions hit the important points in this story. I salute you:grins: Hmm…for this story, I will end it like this. I might do a sequel if I have the time though (this time will involve around Kantaro's incarnation). I hope you like this ending then! Thanks for the review.

Goku-chan: Hehehehe, your hope is fulfilled (I didn't write it directly that way, but implied that Haruka had already forgiven Kantaro). And thanks for the encouragement:3

Yummy Yaoi: Lol, thanks for the compliment. :bows: This is the last chapter…and I enjoyed answering to your reviews. Hope you will find the ending suitable. :)

Ruby-dream: I seem to torture him until the end of my story lol! Am I really that corrupted now? XD Just playing. But hmm…I think I like creating a sad past for him. He looks kinda that way in the anime/manga. :laughs: Anyway, it does have a good ending ne? Thanks for everything and I sincerely hope you like the ending.

NaTsUkO-ChAn: Thanks for such kind comment. I guess I like hitting on angst and romance genres for my stories. X3 Yeah, sometimes that is the way I see him lol. He always seems to be manipulative, but in a good way at least. XP Aww…you are too sweet. I am overly happy when I read you review:chuckles: To reply your kindness, I would make another special fluffy story for you ne? X3 Hehehehe. Thanks once again!

Kazuha: Finally, I decide to end his suffering after so long. I pity Kan-chan. :laughs: (Kantaro: Who is the evil one here?) Thanks for the review! I certainly hope you enjoy the ending as well!

Silverkaze013: Haha, thanks for spending your precious time and there is really no need to apologize over small things like that. :) I am honored to hear that you are still finding time to read my fic even though your computer broke down. Aww, that hurts when you have to use another one. But, things will turn out to be fine. :smiles:

Shu-26: Thanks for such kind review! Hope you like the ending!

Arbil: Aww…sorry ne for the cliffie! But this time no more cliffie since it is the ending! Hope you enjoy reading!

MourNinG: Thanks for the kind review! I finished it at last and hope you enjoy the whole story ne:chuckles:


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